An Ordinary Human Life
by JunoInferno
Summary: John Smith is an ordinary bloke trying to live his life in London, a life that he loves with a wife and children. Then one day a strange girl calls him "Doctor" and that puts everything in jeopardy.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. So, I intended to table this story for a while until I finished my others, but basically I have no self control. Consider this a sort of teaser. Spoilers for basically the whole run of Doctor Who, especially The Christmas Invasion, which I have always sort of had a problem with Rose's behavior in that episode and the Children in Need sketch that falls before that, but after The Parting of the Ways. It's pretty easy to find on YouTube if you haven't seen it and you're confused at the end of this chapter. That was a lot of preamble. Thanks for reading and if you wanted to review that would be awesome.

* * *

"You're late."

Rose Tyler looked up to see the disapproving face of the floor manager, Kenneth, as she entered the restaurant. It was already buzzing with conversations, laughter, meaning a long night for Rose. She was hating it already.

"Sorry, the bus was late-"

"Look, Rose, do you want this job or not?"

She didn't. She really didn't. Ordinary life hardly seemed like life anymore. It was just some shadow of living. She needed the job, though.

"Course I do," she said.

"Mina's been covering your tables. Last party just sat down, four kids, Dad's birthday."

Rose nodded. Just the sort of group she didn't want right now. She checked on all her other tables and made her way to the dreaded birthday party table.

There was a ginger woman who she presumed was mum. One girl, probably nine, a boy about seven with wild brown hair and another girl around five, a blonde.

"Hello, I'm Rose, I'll be your server. How are we?," she said forcing herself to smile.

"Just fine," the woman answered.

She looked to see no sign of Dad. "Are we missing someone?"

"My husband's just popped into the loo with our son."

"And now we're back!," Rose heard a familiar voice say with exuberance. She watched in complete and utter shock as the Doctor slid in next to her and put a five old boy down in the booth. He gave the boy a kiss on the top of the head. "Try to take better care of this top, Jamie." She watched slack-jawed as he slid in next to mum. He looked up at Rose expectantly. "Uh, have we ordered?"

"No, sweetheart," said the woman.

"What do you want?," he asked.

"You pick the starters. It's your birthday!"

"I want the prawns," said the older boy.

"Well, you can't. You're allergic to seafood," said the Doctor.

"Prawns aren't seafood," he said.

"Yes, they are, stupid," said the older girl.

"Oi! No name calling!," said the ginger woman. "It's your father's birthday. You're going to behave."

"Doctor?," said Rose.

The Doctor looked around. "Sorry, are you talking to me?"

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Rose was completely dumbfounded at what she was witnessing.

"Sorry, why are you calling me 'doctor'?"

"Because it's your name. It's me, Rose. Don't you recognize me? It hasn't been that long."

The ginger woman turned and narrowed her gaze at the man. "John, what's she talking about?"

"Donna, I have no idea." He looked up at Rose. "I think you must have me confused with someone else."

"No! I don't! I travelled with you! You showed me the stars!"

"What?," exclaimed Donna. She looked at the man. "What exactly does 'showed me the stars' mean, sunshine?"

"Donna, I have no idea who she is!"

"How old is she?," asked Donna. She looked at Rose. "How old are you?"

"Who are you?," asked Rose. "What have you done to him?"

"What have I done to him? He's my husband! What have you done?"

"Are you getting divorced?," asked the eldest girl.

"Are we still going to DisneyWorld?," asked the older boy.

The Doctor looked exasperated. "No one's getting divorced! Yes, we're going to DisneyWorld! Donna, I have absolutely no idea who this girl is!" He looked up at Rose. "Would you stop it? What is this? Some sort of prank? A bet with your mates? It's seriously not funny at all!"

Donna stood up and took youngest boy's hand.

"Oh, Donna," moaned the Doctor.

"Charlotte, Jack, Zoe, come on," said Donna.

"Jack?," snorted Rose.

Donna started leading the children out. The Doctor leapt up to follow.

"Doctor!," shouted Rose.

He turned back and glared at her. "I have no idea what you're on about! Leave me alone! Don't you think you've caused enough mischief?" He started running. "Donna!"

Kenneth walked over to Rose. "What the hell just happened? I just saw over a hundred pounds run out of here after you said something!"

"That customer, I used to know him."

"Well, keep your personal life out of my bloody restaurant! You can give Ellie your apron, you're sacked!"

"Fine!," said Rose tossing her pen and pad at Kenneth. "I don't need this stupid job anyway! I just found the Doctor!"

Rose marched out of the restaurant. Life was real again.

* * *

_**Three Months Earlier, Christmas Day, 2005**_

The Doctor walked away from Harriet Jones. Rose, Jackie and Mickey were only a few steps behind.

He opened the door to the TARDIS.

"We're having Christmas dinner in an hour, don't be late!," said Jackie.

The Doctor stopped and looked at Jackie. These humans. They certainly ran the spectrum, didn't they?

"Sorry, Jackie, I'm not staying."

"What?," exclaimed Rose. "Where are we going? Give me a minute-"

"It's Christmas Day!," Jackie objected.

"You only just got here," Mickey complained.

"You're not coming, Rose," said the Doctor.

The color drained from her face. "What?"

"This is the end of the line," said the Doctor.

He saw expressions of relief take over Jackie and Mickey's faces.

"What? What did I do?"

"What did you do?," growled the Doctor. "What did you do?"

Rose stood frozen, a deer caught in headlights.

"You opened up the TARDIS! You committed genocide!"

Jackie looked at her daughter. "Rose, what's he talking about?"

"Not now, Mum!" She looked back at the Doctor. "But they were going to kill you!"

"You had a choice! You had all the power of the Time Vortex inside of you, you could have done anything and you chose to kill! You cost me a regeneration, which would be alright, but then you rejected me! You rejected me because I saved your life!"

Rose shook her head. "No, you're twisting it-"

"I heard everything you said, Rose. You blamed me for not helping you! I was sick! Haven't you ever been sick before? Your mother and Mickey took better care of me than you did- thanks for the tea, by the way- you just stood there and whined about what was happening to you! To you! I was the one who almost died! Again! Because I saved your life! You're welcome!"

Rose was shaking, staring at her feet, wondering where the celebration had gone wrong.

The Doctor looked at Jackie and Mickey with a wry grin. "Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, you were brilliant. I mean that. I know I've mocked you before, but you always delivered. Thank you." he looked at Rose, trying to prepare the right words. "Rose Tyler, have... oh, why bother? You won't listen."

The TARDIS door shut and the engine started grinding.

The Doctor was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who which is just unreasonable of the BBC if you think about it. Thanks for the reads and reviews, I love getting them. A warning for some serious timey wimey-ness in this series, which I will try to denote, but I think you can keep up. Anyway, thanks for reading and if you wanted to review, that would be great. Happy reading!

* * *

John hadn't counted on how efficient Donna could be. She had converted her finely honed secretarial skills into being the most organized mum of four he could think of, probably in recorded history. She kept track of all four kids' schedules, did the household accounts and always remembered exactly how much milk was left without a discrepancy. She was also quite quick at getting four kids back to the car park and into the Land Rover before John could catch up with her.

So, there John was without a ride. He had to catch the tube and a bus to get back to the house. He walked in to find Charlotte and Jack were in the sitting room with the dog, a miniature Schnauzer called Greta, watching television.

"Hi, Dad," said Charlotte.

"Hello." He kissed both kids on the top of the head.

"Did you walk home?," asked Jack, not taking his eyes from the telly. "Mum said you could."

"I made my way," said John. "Where is Mum?"

"Putting the twins to bed," said Charlotte.

John nodded and headed upstairs. Donna was in the rocking chair with the twins in their room, reading their favorite Winnie the Pooh. She cast John a glare as he entered and waited quietly until the book was finished. They both the kissed the twins good night and headed out.

"Jack!," Donna called down the stairs. "Get up here and start your bath!"

"I don't need one!"

"Yes, you do!" She marched into the master bedroom. John shut the door and turned to find Donna. "What are you here for?"

John shook his head. "Are you going to let me speak at all? I don't know that girl! I've never seen her before in my life!"

"Right. She's just some psycho blonde, then?"

"Yes!"

Donna opened the door and shouted downstairs. "Jack! I don't hear water running!"

There was silence.

"Donna," John edged closer to her, taking her hands in his before she could slap him. "Donna, in ten years, have I ever given you any cause to think I was unfaithful? Have you ever seen me look at another woman? Besides, she's not my type."

"What's your type then? That way I can know who to look out for."

"Oh, clever and funny and the best mum in the world..." He leaned in. "Curvaceous. Ginger."

Donna looked at him. He could tell she was softening. "Sorry, I just..." She shook her head. "I've become this dowdy old stay at home mum and you're still sex on legs."

"You're not dowdy or old. You're the sexiest woman I know. Want me to show you where I like the freckles on my type of woman?"

Donna was finally smiling. "I have to get Jack in the tub."

"I'd much rather get you in the tub."

"Then Charlotte has to get to bed."

John groaned. "How many children do we have?"

"Talk like that won't help you," said Donna. "It's not as if I made them on my own. Help me get them to bed and then we can go to bed."

John's eyes widened. He walked to the door. "Jack, you will get in that bath if you know what's good for you!

* * *

_**July 1996**_

"Hello."

Donna Noble looked up to see a tall, skinny man with silly hair standing in front of her.

"Hello."

"I'm new here. John Smith. You're new as well, aren't you?"

"I'm just the temp," Donna said. She looked back at the computer.

John frowned. "You're not just a temp. You have a name."

She sighed. "Donna Noble."

John smiled. "Donna Noble. I like it."

She looked back at him. "Did you want something?"

John darted his eyes around. "Well, I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?"

His eyes darted around nervously, but he kept the grin on his face. "So I could meet you."

"Why?"

He swallowed a bit. "Because I wanted to get to know you better."

She looked at him. "Why would you want to get to know me better?"

"You want to know? Really?"

"Yes," she said tiring of the game, "really."

"Because I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I had to meet you and talk to you and hopefully get to know you well enough where I could ask you out and from there..."

"You're a complete nutter," said Donna.

John nodded. "Yeah, sorry, I get that sometimes. My sister says I need to learn to shut up, I just let my mouth run and run... I'm doing it now actually."

"Yeah," Donna confirmed.

"John!," called one of the upper managers. "We're on conference call to Cape Town in five!"

"Be right there!," he called back. He looked back at Donna. "So, uh, right. I'll be off then."

Donna worked hard at her desk the rest of the afternoon, not because she was devoted to her job, truth was she was pretty damn good at it and only needed a quarter of the time to do what she was doing, except for answering the phones. She only dared to pop out to the loo when she was sure John was in a meeting so she wouldn't bump into him. When she went home, she went down the stairs so she wouldn't run into him in the lift. She rode home on the tube, distracted by what had happened.

Okay, to be honest, she was always on the lookout for a husband. Twenty-six might not have been old to a lot of people but as Donna looked around, she realized she was among the last of her friends to get married. It hadn't bothered her at first, but if she had buy one more bloody wedding or christening present while her birthday was completely forgotten, she was going to go mad. It wasn't as if she had a career to account for the lack of a family, just one temp job after another. She sort of preferred it that way, a new world of possibilities, though it just ended up being the same group of people with different names in different offices. She had some dates, but most of the men saw her as a temporary plaything with no complicated office business when Donna's time ran out. She hadn't held out any hope for her latest contract at all. The foundation built schools and orphanages, mostly in various parts of Africa. The place was sure to be full of tofu eating, environmentally sound do gooders with socially conscious macrobiotic children. Donna didn't mind the idea of doing good, but she was sure everyone would see right through her and she'd become the joke of the office. Still, the temp job paid well and Donna wanted to save up to take a scuba diving holiday in Australia and that took quite a bit of money, so here she was.

Okay, it was a singles' tour, but she had always wanted to go there. She did love scuba diving.

She certainly hadn't expected to be noticed. At first glance, she hadn't thought she found John attractive, but now that she thought about it, he was rather... something. Really thin, though. Nice eyes, great smile and he could really wear a waistcoat.

Donna managed to keep up her avoidance of John the rest of the week. She had the schedule for the whole office, she knew when John would have a spare moment and made herself scarce, just trying to get through this job and then she could go on to the next one. She had done it before, but that was usually to avoid a nasty coworker, not a man hell bent on getting to know her.

Still, though, what did he want with her? A bloke like that ought to be able to get any woman he wanted and that office was full of choices.

That just left one thing.

* * *

"Look, if you're just out for a shag, you can forget it."

John looked up from his desk, both pleased and surprised to see Donna. After all, she had avoided him all week and avoided even the most simple of conversations with him. That having been established, he was confused at her opening line.

"Sorry?," he said trying to recover from the sudden ambush.

She crossed her arms. "I've seen your type, looking for an easy conquest and frankly, I'm done with it."

"My type?"

"Yeah, you see the fat, ginger girl and think she'll be an easy one. Sorry, not having it."

"You're not fat, though."

She snorted. "Yeah, heard that one as well. Then you won't have sex with the lights on."

"You're not..." He took a breath, trying to consider what would be best to say. "Donna, I'm not looking for a quick shag. I want to get to know you better and then you know, we might possibly shag, at which time, I would prefer the lights to be on."

Donna looked at him in shock.

"Oh, I've done it again, haven't I? My sister's right about that, though, I don't discuss sex with my sister, that would be weird."

"So, you actually want to go out with me?"

"Well, yes, honestly, I thought I'd made that pretty clear."

He actually wanted to go out with her. He looked so helpless and nervous as he said so. What was she thinking? She could do a lot worse.

She had done a lot worse.

"What are you doing tonight?," she asked.

* * *

"Sarah Jane!," John said with surprise as he came out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, you didn't answer the door. I used my key," said Sarah Jane. She was sorting things out of a carrier bag and into the pantry. "Brought you some more groceries."

"You didn't have to do that. I could have done the shopping."

"But you didn't," she chided. "All I found were two bananas and an empty tea tin."

"Thanks."

Sarah Jane smiled. "I could treat you to dinner. How about a Chinese?"

"Sorry, I can't. I have plans."

She seemed surprised. "Plans? Meeting with some friends? Work? Your running group? The cricket club?"

"No," he said grinning, "it's Donna."

"Donna?," she asked.

"Yes, Donna, I'm sure I mentioned her," he said as he buttoned up his shirt. "She's the temp at the office."

"What's her last name?," asked Sarah Jane.

"Noble. Donna Noble," he said letting it roll off his tongue.

"So, she's one of the secretaries?"

"Is there something wrong with being one of the secretaries?"

"No, of course not. So, what about her? What's she like?"

"She's brilliant, that's what she's like. I've had to work on her quite a bit to get her to go to dinner with me."

"Have you?," she asked with a bit of surprise.

"Finally managed it, though. Want to make a good impression." He motioned at himself. "Do I look alright? Should I put on a tie?"

"You look fine."

John smiled and checked his watch. "Oh, I'm running late. I wanted to get some flowers."

Sarah Jane nodded. "I'll lock the place up."

"Thanks." He grabbed his jacket off the chair. "Wish me luck."

"Luck."

John left the flat grinning.

Sarah Jane looked up at the ceiling. "Why me?," she lamented.

* * *

Donna had been through every outfit in her wardrobe. What the hell did John Smith want? Sexy? Conservative? Why had he even asked her out? Why had she said yes? What was she doing here? What was she going to talk about? She had done some checking around at work after she had agreed to the date. Everyone there was convinced John was a legitimate genius. Spoke a dozen languages, in his first month he had figured out a way to leverage the charity's funds into building twice as many schools. That was how he had gotten his office. His sister was his only family and it was through her he had gotten the job. Overall, it was agreed in the ladies' room that John Smith was quite a catch and Donna should count herself as lucky.

He had said she was beautiful, that he wanted to get to know her. No one had ever said that to Donna before.

Then he had ordered their dinner in Thai. He spoke Thai which led Donna back to wondering what the hell she was doing here.

"So, Donna," said John with a big smile, "what do you do when you're not temping?"

"Me?," asked Donna.

"Yes, you."

Donna took a sip of her wine. She was going to have to watch herself, lest she become a complete ass. "Well, I go out with my mates. I go shopping."

"Oh," said John politely.

"I read," she offered vainly. She did read. Usually during her pedicure or on the treadmill, but that was not the point. She did read.

"What do you read?," he asked as if it was going to be the most interesting answer ever given.

"Um, just finished Bridget Jones' Diary..." Not finished per se, but she was really close and she knew Bridget was going to end up with Mark Darcy anyway.

"Is it any good?"

"Yeah, it's sort of girls' fiction, though."

"I just finished Last Orders, a bit like Faulkner. Sort of not to my taste, but very good. Then I reread A Tale of Two Cities..."

"Then?," asked Donna.

"Last night."

"You read that fast?," she asked.

"Yes." He paused, noticing her discomfort. "I've seen you at your desk, though. You must read quickly. You've got to type a hundred words a minute."

Donna shrugged. "I suppose."

He frowned. "Why are you so afraid to call yourself clever?"

She laughed. "Because I'm so definitely not! I never went to university, I don't even have a real job-"

"Yes, you do, you're good at it. You should stay on."

Donna shook her head. "I don't think so. My contract's up in a few months and then I've got this trip to Australia."

His face dropped. "You're not moving, are you?"

Donna smiled. "No. Just a scuba trip to the Great Barrier Reef."

"Oh, that sounds fascinating. Did you know it can be seen from space? All those billions of tiny little coral polyps forming a structure big enough to be seen from outside the Earth."

"No," Donna said, "I didn't know that. I really have to get a guide book or something." She suddenly felt sheepish about the whole singles' When he said it, it didn't sound like just a great place to scuba dive. It sounded like so much more. It sounded amazing.

John smiled. "I could help you."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who as usual, which is really starting to be frustrating. Thank you so much for your reads and reviews and favorites and follows. I'm glad you're liking it. A disclaimer, I am going to try my best with my London geography and United Kingdom facts, but I recognize that I may get something wrong, so I apologies in advance if I do. So, please enjoy this one and let me know what you think of it. Happy reading!

* * *

"I found the Doctor," Rose said to Mickey.

Mickey nearly choked on his chip. Rose looked so bright, so hopeful, no wonder she had offered to buy and no wonder she had wanted to come to the shop instead of staying in front of Jackie back at the flat.

Four words. Four words that Mickey Smith had not wanted to hear. The three months since the Doctor had left Rose had not gone well. Jackie and Mickey had briefly held out hope that Rose would be able to move on. It had only served to make her more of a pain and frankly, he was about through with the whole thing. He had thought about officially breaking up with her earlier- if they were even together anymore- but it seemed like kicking Rose when she was already down. Now, though, if the Doctor was back...

"Why aren't you gone then?," asked Mickey.

Roae didn't pick up on Mickey's bitterness. "He's playing some game. He acted like he didn't recognize me."

"Maybe he was busy saving the planet."

"No, he was just at the restaurant with this woman and these kids. They were acting like they were a family or something."

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "The Doctor was at your restaurant with his family?"

"Not his family, can't be. Just some family. Amyway, I got the name of the reservation off one of my mates at work. There was a phone number, you know how to find the address, don't you?"

Mickey refrained from rolling his eyes, but just barely. All she had to do was go on any search engine online, but he supposed you missed out on things like that when you travelled in a big blue box. Rose handed him a slip of paper with the number.

"I need to give it to one of my mates," lied Mickey.

"You can't do it on your own?," she asked disappointedly.

"No. Should just take a few days."

Mickey had intended to just lose the bit of paper or say his friend couldn't find anything, but Rose's description had sounded strange. He hadn't figured the Doctor to be the sort of person to just pretend he didn't know someone. He figured he would just tell Rose off again. He might like to see that given the miserable three months he had just suffered, but he knew it would be better if he figured out what was happening on his own.

So, he drove to the address he had found on the reverse directory. It was a decent drive, the edge of Ealing bordering Chiswick. He parked just down the street, waiting to see if there was anyone he recognized.

Still, the Doctor. In a house? That seemed weird.

* * *

"Jack!," Donna exclaimed as she answered the door.

Jack Harkness entered with a big grin as he and Donna hugged. "How have you been, gorgeous?"

"Oh, fine. John's not in, you know, he's at work."

"That's alright. I came by to visit you."

Donna raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't get any ideas."

They walked in the sitting room where Zoe was playing with her Barbies on the tea table.

"Zoe, I thought you were going to put these things away," said Donna.

"I'm playing with them."

"Well, you weren't ten minutes ago. Say hello to Cousin Jack."

"Hi, Jack."

"Hello, beautiful," he said giving her a peck on the cheek.

Donna looked around. "Where's Jamie?"

"I don't know," Zoe said plaintively.

Donna looked at Jack. "That boy has been getting into positively everything. Would you keep an eye on her while I find him? Usually I find one and I've lost the other," she said with a laugh.

"No problem," said Jack, sitting on the sofa.

* * *

Jamie Smith was the youngest member of the family, officially five minutes younger than Zoe and a year younger than the dog. He was also the most troublesome, ahead of the dog and she had killed a bird in the garden. He, like most youngest children, thought there was definitely something going on in his house when he was sent to naptime or bed while everyone else got to stay up. There was so much he wasn't aloud to do. He wasn't aloud to touch anything in the kitchen since that one time he tried to make his own breakfast. He couldn't go outdoors on his own since the time he tried to get the bus to the zoo because his mum wouldn't take him that day. He had gotten to ride in a police car, though and thought that was just as good as an outing to the zoo.

He also wasn't meant to be where he was now: the eaves storage on the top floor of the house where his sister's bedroom was. He always found great things his parents seemed to have forgotten about: old trophies, souvenirs from holidays, Christmas decorations. His mum was always cross when he brought it all out.

Today he had found something really exciting: his dad's old things in a box. There was a journal full of drawings of strange creatures and people. There were words to go with it, but he could only read some of them. His dad said he would finish learning to read when he started big kids' school in the autumn and went for the whole day. There was also some sort of old-fashioned watch...

"James Wilfred Smith, what do you think you're doing?"

Jamie looked up to see his mum had arrived. She had her hands on her hips and was staring him down. It was never good when she did that.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to rummage through what's not yours?"

"But nobody's using it," he protested.

"Come on. Out of there."

Jamie got up and shut the doors.

"I had better not find you up here again, young man," said Donna. "Come downstairs, your cousin Jack's come to visit."

* * *

"Jamie! Zoe!," said Donna as she came in with two cups of tea. "Stop bothering Jack!"

Jack Harkness smiled as Jamie and Zoe climbed all over him on the sofa. "I don't mind. I missed these guys."

"Jamie, Zoe, off."

The twins got off the sofa resignedly. Donna handed Jack his cup. She looked at the twins. "Why don't you two go draw some pictures for Cousin Jack? Would you like that, Jack?"

"I would," said Jack.

"Would you put them up?," asked Zoe.

"I sure would, gorgeous," said Jack.

"Where?," asked Jamie.

"Their dad hangs all their drawings in his office," Donna said with a smile.

"Then so will I," said Jack.

The twins grinned and rushed off.

"Color on the paper!," Donna called after them.

"Sorry I missed the birthday dinner. It's been crazy at work," said Jack.

Donna smiled. "You didn't miss much. It was just us and the kids and that didn't even last long."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

Donna shook her head. "It was stupid, there was this waitress. She acted like she knew John, like, really knew him."

"What do you mean?," asked Jack.

Donna sighed. "She said he showed her the stars and she called him 'Doctor.' What is that? Do people call each other 'Doctor' now? Am I that out of the loop?"

"That's a specific kink," said Jack.

"Stop it," said Donna with a smile. "Anyway, I lost it and stormed out. I ended up taking the kids to McDonald's. John never even got to eat."

"Bet you made it up to him, though," said Jack.

"You're incorrigible," said Donna.

* * *

Mickey was just about to give up when a woman knocked on the window of his car.

He rolled down the window just as she pointed a gun at him.

"Out of the car, nice and easy."

She and some other goons hustled him into the back of a van, not allowing him to ask drove for a while and then they rushed him inside some nondescript building and into some kind of holding cell where he waited for hours.

"You have got to be kidding me!," said Jack. "Mickey Mouse!"

"Oh, God, Captain Cheesecake, how could this get any worse?"

Jack sat down at the table. "This could get a lot worse. What were you doing at that house?"

"What are you doing here? Rose said you were in the year two hundred thousand or something."

"I found my way back. I work for the government now."

"What's the government got to do with any of this?"

"You did a reverse directory lookup on a phone number, Mickey. That particular number is under government surveillance meaning an alarm goes off every time someone looks it up. What were you doing there?"

"Nothing," said Mickey.

Jack sighed. "Did Rose give you the number?"

Mickey didn't answer. Jack took that as confirmation.

"Okay, now we have a problem," said Jack.

* * *

Donna was curled up in a corner of the church's children's room, her wedding dress in a heap around her.

How the hell had she gotten here? The time had just flown by. It was just last summer she had first agreed to go out with John. The first date had lasted most of the evening. They had followed up with a series of dates, John usually came up with some plan. He was always taking her to some museum or other, first with plans of helping her with the Great Barrier Reef trip. They had gone to the zoo, to cafes and bookshops. Then John had finally started sharing some of his interests. She had been to the matches for his cricket club, which would have bored her to tears if he hadn't been so cute in the outfit. Then he took her running, which had been a huge mistake. She hadn't realized he wasn't just some casual jogger, he was training for the marathon and he was really quite quick. She had lost track of him about three minutes after they had started down the path and collapsed on the grass. John came back around four minutes later, asking where she'd gone and suggested that they probably should have stretched first.

Then he had taken up scuba diving because he wanted to go to Australia with her. He said he couldn't bear the idea of her being gone three weeks. She called him daft but she was secretly flummoxed. She had never had a relationship get this far, not a real one anyway. He was perfect. He didn't just meet Donna's basic qualifications for a potential husband- emplyed, no criminal history, straight- she actually liked him. She really liked him. She thought he would be all boring and intellectual, but he was interesting, probably, no definitely, the most interesting man she had ever known. Her father and grandfather adored John, in spite of his not knowing much about football. They could all chat for hours. John had especially bonded with Wilfred over astronomy, they had all even gone for an excursion to the planetarium where they had nearly been tossed out when John began correcting the person giving the talk who, as it turned out, had been wrong.

Her mother was pessimistic as usual. She made no secret of her opinion that John would be on to someone else, even cautioning her husband and father against getting too attached to him. Sylvia constantly reminded Donna that the only thing city executives needed secretaries for was practice, a refrain Donna had been hearing since her first temp job. There was no way gorgeous, clever John Smith could be serious about Donna.

Not that his side was helping matters. The first full family meeting had included John's sister and a family friend, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. He was friendly enough in that stiff, upper class way, but she didn't know what Sarah Jane was after. She asked a thousand questions, practically everything but the color of Donna's knickers. Sylvia had decided that Sarah Jane thought they were too posh for the Nobles. She thought her mother was completely off base until she saw a cash machine receipt John had left lying around. He had lots of money and he lived in a one bedroom flat that wasn't even that great and he didn't even have a car. It seemed like he could at least afford to eat something besides bananas. It did however cement the idea in Donna's head that Sarah Jane didn't think she was good enough for her brother.

Which was why she was crying in the corner of a church play room.

There was a knock at the door. "Donna?," asked John.

"Go away!," she spat.

There was a pause. "Sorry, do you really want me to go away or do you want me to come in anyway?"

"I mean go away!"

There was another long pause. "It's just Veena said I should come back here and now I'm back here and you're saying not to come in."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Do what you want!"

There was a long pause. John carefully opened the door and walked in.

"Hello," he said.

Donna didn't say anything. He looked perfect in his morning suit, he could always wear a waistcoat. He walked over and sat down next to her on the floor. She tried not to look him straight on or she was going to completely lose it.

"You're beautiful," he said after a long silence.

She shook her head. "This whole thing's a mess."

"What do you mean? The church looks lovely, you look lovely, you've planned the wedding breakfast."

"Your sister hates me."

"She doesn't hate you-"

"She had someone do a background check on me, John. She thinks I'm some sort of gold digger."

"Did she say that?"

"Why else would she have had it done?"

"I don't know, Donna. Sarah Jane's a journalist, she always asks questions and I think she doesn't know how to keep her work at work. You ought to hear the way she interrogates me."

"She thought I was awful before and now with the baby..."

"What about the baby?"

Donna shrugged. "She'll think I tried to trap you."

"Donna, you're being ridiculous-"

"Don't tell me I'm being ridiculous!"

"Do you want to get married?"

"What? Are you backing out?"

John took a breath and ran his hand through his hair. Donna could be exhausting when she was like this. "On the holiday, to Australia, I was going to ask you to marry me anyway."

"What?," asked Donna. "That's sort of-"

"It was hard to not ask you to marry me the day I met you, believe me, it had been ages. If you don't want to get married, that's fine, though. If you want to run out of here and get married at the registrar's office, that's fine. If you want to go to Las Vegas, that's fine. I'll do whatever you want. I just want to be with you."

Donna paused. "I didn't realize Las Vegas was an option."

"Donna, whatever you want is an option."

Donna held his hand and looked into his eyes. "You have really nice eyes."

John let a grin spread across his face. "Thanks."

She swallowed, readying herself to take the leap. "I want to get married."

"Well, what a coincidence, there's a wedding out there," he happily remarked.

* * *

Sarah Jane had been pacing the church garden since she arrived, ever since she had a row with John over what was really one of UNIT's investigators that he had pinned on her. She had been pacing so long that the vicar asked her to change routes because he was concerned she'd tear out the grass. She had changed to a cobbled path and was relieved to see that the Brigadier had finally arrived.

"Alistair! Where have you been?"

"Something came up."

"This whole thing is a disaster. One Donna's friends told her about one of the investigators you sent round to question her and now she thinks I think she's some kind of fortune hunter. I don't! i actually like her, but now I'm going to be the bitch sister-in-law!" She finally noticed the man standing next to Alistair, wearing a great coat and smiling. "Who is he?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said kissing her hand.

"Yes, Captain Harkness filled the same position that you did with the Doctor."

Sarah Jane looked at him in amazement. "You travelled with him as well?"

"Yes."

"Well, do you-"

"No, I don't know this new face. I don't know any better than you if he's some poor schmoe that just wandered out of the TARDIS or if he's the Doctor."

Sarah Jane looked at the Brigadier. "I told you about the Jelly Babies."

"Mine liked bananas," said Jack.

"Sarah Jane, we cannot base our conclusions on Jelly Babies," the Brigadier practically spat.

Sarah Jane looked again to Jack. "Well, do you have any idea what happened? Why he is like this?"

Jack looked to the Brigadier, waiting for approval.

"You can tell her."

Jack turned to face Sarah Jane straight on. "The Time Lords are gone."

Sarah Jane's face dropped. "What? Gone? How could they be gone?"

"There was a war with the Daleks. They're all dead, even Gallifrey burned. There's nothing left. The Doctor- if that is him- is the last of the Time Lords. There's no one to tell us what happened to him and no one to help him."

"So, even if we sort him out," Sarah Jane said slowly, "he's got nothing to look forward to except being totally alone."

Just then, John came out. "Alright, everyone, come on, getting married." He looked to Sarah Jane. "You know, in spite of you. What were you thinking sending an investigator?"

Sarah Jane wanted to scream. She had done it all to protect him and she had been trying to protect him in spite of himself for the past year. She couldn't say so, though, so she settled on a sheepish shrug. "Sorry. I already said I was sorry."

John nodded. "Well, you're forgiven. I think I sort of have to, you are my sister. What are you lot standing around for? Wedding! Happening! Right here, right now!"

"John," said the Brigadier, he motioned at Jack, "you remember this fellow, don't you?"

John looked at Jack and gave him a once over. "Yeah, Alistair, I think I'd remember my own cousin. How have you been, Jack?"

Jack was taken aback. "Fine, mostly."

"Great, let's all go, then."

John walked away.

"How does he-" asked Jack.

"We're not sure," said the Brigadier. "Some sort of imprinting. He seems to decide what people are to him. He decided Sarah Jane was his sister and that I was some sort of friend of his parents."

Jack rolled his eyes. "He had to make me a relative."

"What's wrong with that?," asked Sarah Jane.

John poked his head out of the church. "Sorry. Wedding!"

"Coming," said Sarah Jane as they started inside.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: I still don't own Doctor Who and I can't even get one of those TARDIS beach towels because they're sold out. Thanks for the reads and reviews and following this story. I know it's been a while since an update and all I can say is life has been rough lately and I'm sorry. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think. Happy reading!

* * *

Ordinary life. Another day, another evening Rose was spending watching telly with her mum. How many people with freakish disorders could Channel Four possibly find?

"Stop tapping your foot," said Jackie.

"I'm not," Rose protested.

"Yes, you are."

Rose realized she had in fact been tapping her foot. She stopped sheepishly, not saying anything to her mum. In truth, she was waiting for Mickey to come back with the Doctor's address, then she could find him and sort him out and find out what that ginger woman was really up to.

"Did you look for a new job today?," asked Jackie.

"Yeah," Rose lied. What did she need a new job for? She would find the Doctor and be off travelling again, wouldn't she?

"You can't just sit around here all day," said Jackie. "It's no use moping. You've got to move on."

"To what? Some job at a chippy?"

"Oh, you think you're too good now, do you? Well, get that out of your head right now, Rose Tyler."

"I didn't say that-"

"It's how you feel, though."

Rose paused. "Do you hear someone knocking?"

They looked back as the door to the flat was knocked in. Jackie screamed as a woman in a black leather catsuit walked in, followed by a group of men who quickly swarmed the flat.

"What are you doing?," shouted Rose.

"You can't do this!," said Jackie. "This is a free country!"

"Rose Tyler, Jacqueline Tyler, consider yourselves under the authority of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

Jackie looked at Rose. "What have you done?"

* * *

Hours later, Rose and Jackie were still waiting in a cold cell.

"I didn't do anything," said Rose.

"That's what you said the last time," said Jackie. "Then the Doctor said-"

"He was telling it wrong. They were going to kill him."

"Oh, when he's taking you all around the universe he walks on water, but once he says you behaved badly, suddenly he's telling it wrong!"

Jack Harkness strode in, saving Rose and Jackie from their two millionth argument over the Doctor.

"Jack!," said Rose, leaping up off the bench. She gave him a hug. "How did you get here?"

Jack returned the embrace, then broke it. "Sit down. We have to talk."

Rose sat. "What? What's wrong? What am I doing here?"

"I'm her mother, by the way. Excuse my daughter's terrible manners," said Jackie.

"Captain Jack Harkness," said Jack, kissing her hand.

Rose rolled her eyes. "What am I doing here, Jack?"

"The number you gave Mickey."

Rose's eyes brightened. "Was it him? Was it the Doctor?"

"Oh, big surprise," said Jackie, "trouble and the Doctor."

"I can't answer that," said Jack.

Rose smiled. "Jack, come on. There's something wrong with him. He didn't even recognize me. What was he doing with that woman? Has she done something to him?"

"Rose, you need to just stop asking questions."

"It is him. What's happened?"

"What woman?," asked Jackie.

"This woman and her children were there," said Rose. "She acted like she was married to the Doctor or something."

"Well, was she?," asked Jackie.

"Was she what?"

"Married to the Doctor?"

Rose shook her head. "Of course she wasn't."

Jack opened the tablet PC he had been carrying under his arm. "I just want to make sure we have this right." He turned it on and showed the screen to Rose. "This is the Doctor?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, that's him. That's his new face."

Jack turned to show the screen to Jackie. "This is him?"

"Yes," said Jackie.

Jack put the PC down. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. You're both going to sign the Official Secrets Act and you're never going to speak of this again."

"Then we can go?," asked Jackie.

"On my word," said Jack.

"And Mickey is alright?," asked Jackie, casting a glare at Rose.

"Mickey is fine," said Jack.

Rose shook her head. "What about the Doctor, though? How do we help him?"

"We don't do anything, Rose. You go back to your life and forget you ever saw him."

"Jack, I don't think he knows who he is," she protested. "We've got to help him or he might just go on with that woman, wasting his life."

"That is not your concern, Rose," Jack said stiffly. "Other people are handling it."

"But I can help!"

"Trust me, Rose, you've done plenty."

"What if I don't sign it?," she asked.

"Rose!," Jackie protested.

"Then we make you forget," said Jack.

Rose shook her head. "No, I couldn't. You can't make me."

"Rose, trust me, you do not want to fool around with this."

Rose straightened. "You can't make me forget about him."

* * *

Rose Tyler found herself waking up in her bed as she did every morning.

Just another morning on Earth. Her ordinary life.

"Rose! Wake up!," said Jackie. "I'll not have you sleeping through the whole day!"

She was going to never see the Doctor again, not since he left her on Christmas Day.

* * *

Charlotte Smith was fairly convinced that her dad was from another planet.

Every day she discovered some strange new habit of his. There was the running. What was with the running? He did a ridiculous amount of running. He seemed to know everything, which had its uses but really annoyed her. He made a big deal out of the tiniest things like fairy cakes with ball bearings. She saw her friends' dads, they were normal and seemed to leave their children alone. Not her dad. He insisted upon doing everything with her, the height of it being last week when he had decided to accompany her to her friend Lola's birthday party.

Everyone had loved him. Like really loved him. Why couldn't he just be embarrassing the way that other dads were?

"Charlotte!," John said cheerfully, throwing open her bedroom door.

"Don't you knock?," Charlotte cried back, incredulously.

"Oh, sorry," said John. He knocked on the open door, carefully stepping into Charlotte's territory. "Are you done with your homework yet?"

"Yes," she practically groaned.

"Well, good, let's go on a run before supper."

"What?"

"The children's race. I thought you'd want to get ready."

"You signed me up for the kids' race? Did you even ask me?"

John looked around. "I asked your mother."

"I don't want to run in some kids' race!"

John frowned. "Well, you have to be eighteen to run the marathon..."

"I don't want to do some stupid sport."

John was at a loss. What was she doing? Why was she acting like this?

So he did what he always did in these delicate situations with his eldest.

"Donna!," he shouted downstairs.

* * *

Given the fact that her name had been called, Donna was not surprised when John came into the twins' room where she was trying to help Jamie and Zoe get their running clothes on. The day had been nonstop since Jamie woke her up at five with the sound of things clattering from the eaves storage. Then she had to get the children and John fed, dressed and out the door. She hadn't even gotten a moment to herself while the youngest were at school for the morning because it was Greta's annual visit to the vet. Then lunch. Then Jamie and Zoe had run completely wild and not fallen asleep for their nap and then it was time to get the other two...

Donna loved her family, but she was very eager to get them all out of the house, even if it was only for a half hour. She would cherish that half hour.

John entered the room.

"Charlotte doesn't want to go," said John, looking like a kicked dog. Not their dog. Greta would have had some fight in her.

"What do you mean she doesn't want to go?," asked Donna.

John shrugged. "She doesn't want to run the kids' race. She doesn't want to go running."

"Oh, she's going," said Donna as she finished tying Zoe's trainers.

Donna headed up the stairs and into Charlotte's room.

"Don't you knock?"

"Get dressed. You're going out with your dad."

"I don't want to."

"I don't care what you want. You're nine. You don't get to start acting like a teenager yet. Four years, miss."

She crossed her arms. "You can't make me."

"Oh, can't I?," asked Donna, crossing her arms in turn. "If you don't go now, I don't see that you need to go to Mischa's party this Saturday."

"I'm not bothered," said Charlotte.

"Where do you even learn that?," said Donna. "Get dressed. You're going."

"Dad's embarrassing, though."

"All dads are embarrassing," said Donna. "It doesn't mean you don't have to go places with them."

Charlotte sighed. "Ellie said he was hot."

"What?," asked Donna.

"At school. Ellie said he was hot, then the other girls said Dad was hot." Charlotte shook her head.

"First off, you girls should be talking about boy bands or something. Second, yes, you have been cursed with having a hot dad-"

"Ew! Mum!"

"However, he is a very good dad and he loves you and I know you love him. It makes him happy to spend time with his children so you are going."

Charlotte frowned.

"Uh-uh. The pouting face doesn't work on me and besides, your dad's is better."

So Donna happily sent her husband and children out, ordered pizza and laid down on the sofa for the few moments of peace a stay at home mum could expect.

Then Greta jumped on top of her. She would have shooed her off, but at this point she was in no hurry to waste her time with another fight. Especially one she was probably going to lose.

* * *

_**About Nine Years Earlier **_

Donna was sitting on the edge of the bed, bemused by the sight of John packing a bag.

"Right..." he said, staring at the case. "Packing... Packing a bag..."

Donna smiled. "You are so rubbish at this."

"Help," he said finally, tossing the items he picked up onto the bed.

Donna stood and started at the suitcase. "You should take your trainers. You could run in the mountains or something."

"I used to do that when I was growing up," John said, heading for the wardrobe.

"When did you do that?," Donna asked puzzled.

John shrugged. "Not sure. I know I remember it."

Donna took the trainers from him. "You'll need socks. You've got shirts I just got from the cleaners."

"Shirts," said John, walking towards where they were hanging on the door. "I wish you were coming."

"So do I," said Donna, "but you'll be fine without me. I'm too far along to go flying across the Atlantic, we don't want the baby born over Greenland."

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?," asked John.

"I'll be fine. You're sweet to worry."

John nodded, not convinced. "You should take it easy while I'm gone. You know, don't worry about anything."

"You make things too easy for me," said Donna. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. You just go on saving the world."

John smiled. "I'm hardly a world saver. I'm just giving presentations to a bunch of heavily liquored bureaucrats as I beg for money. They pretend to care about the third world, nothing gets done and then I have to go beg very wealthy people for money next month."

"Don't sell yourself short. You can be very persuasive. Besides, one of them might go home and talk to their boss and who knows what could happen? If there are any women, you have my permission to use the eyebrow waggle."

He looked up at her with doe eyes. "What eyebrow waggle?"

Donna scoffed. "You know very well what eyebrow waggle." She pointed at her swollen stomach. "The one that got me like this."

So, Donna saw John off to the airport, came home, turned on the telly and started making plans of what delivery she would get for what meal on what day.

Then those plans were derailed.

* * *

Sarah Jane was looking forward to having "John" out of town for a few days. She had been anxious at first, but then the Brigadier explained that people from UNIT's American branch would be looking after him. He would be someone else's problem for a few days. No fires to put out. She could relax and get back to her usual routine of chasing down alien threats to Earth.

So she was surprised to get a call from Donna. They had barely spoken since the wedding, not that Sarah Jane could blame her. She was in hospital and her family was out of town at some wedding. She needed someone and that left Sarah Jane.

So, she hurried down, already finding a UNIT team in place. The man she presumed was the emergency obstetrician was being ushered out by Jack, along with most of the other salient staff. She hurried in to find Donna

"Oh, God, you actually came," said Donna.

"Sorry, I thought-"

"No, I mean, wow," said Donna. She shook her head. "Thanks for coming."

"Oh, it's no problem," said Sarah Jane.

"No, I know I've been a bit of a bitch. I have a knack for it. Not one of my more charming qualities."

"No," said Sarah Jane.

Donna groaned again. "Oh, my God."

"Are you alright?," asked Sarah Jane, only realizing afterwards how idiotic that sounded.

Donna didn't snap back at her, though Sarah Jane could see it was taking some measure of self control. "I've been better," was all she said.

"What have the doctors said?," asked Sarah Jane, taking a perch on the stool at the bedside. She didn't really need to ask. She'd gotten a full briefing when she came in.

Donna shook her head. "Not much. I saw him once and he bloody disappeared. Seven months pregnant, you would think I would rate some bloody concern. You might have been right about that private hospital recommendation."

Sarah Jane nodded. Another one of the Brigadier's plans for controlling the situation, but it hadn't worked out as Donna was not listening to any of Sarah Jane's suggestions. John had tried to broker a peace unsuccessfully but even his talents had their limit.

Doctor Bharti, an Indian woman Sarah Jane had met back in the UNIT area, entered. "How are we, Mrs. Smith?"

"Who are you?," asked Donna. "Where's Doctor Chapel?"

"He had an unexpected holiday."

Donna snorted. "Just my luck."

"Mrs. Smith, we've just been over the test results and it seems you are in labor."

Donna snorted. "Great. Thank you for the news flash, now make it stop."

"We can't," she answered.

"What?," asked Donna.

"What?," Sarah Jane echoed.

Donna sat up straight. "This baby is two months early. My husband is in America. My family isn't even here. I haven't even got the cot assembled. This cannot be happening. I'm saying no."

Doctor Bharti frowned. "You can't just say no. You're in active labor."

"Yes, that's why I came here, remember? Now, make it stop."

"Babies born at this age have a very good rate of survival and will in time catch up with their peers on developmental charts-"

"I don't care about developmental charts!," Donna snapped. "Keep her in there! Him! Whatever, just the baby has to stay in there. Why am I telling you this? Can I see your diploma or your license or something?"

"I'll be back in a moment and we can begin pushing, Mrs. Smith," said Doctor Bharti.

She left. Sarah Jane looked at Donna with absolutely no idea what to say.

"Go find that woman and beat her senseless," said Donna.

Sarah Jane nodded in silent acknowledgment of her orders. She left the delivery room and went down the corridor to the room where the Brigadier, Jack and other members of UNIT were waiting.

"How's it going in there?," Jack asked with a grin.

"Awful. You try going in there." She looked at the Brigadier. "Is Doctor Bharti serious? She's never going to consent to this."

"Apparently, the child is fine. Still registering as human, but yes, she is coming out today."

"She?," asked Sarah Jane.

"It's a girl," Jack offered.

"Wonderful," said Sarah Jane. "Have you met Donna? If she thinks her child's in trouble, there is nothing that's going to stop her."

The Brigadier sat and nursed a mug of tea. "I can't believe my career has come to this: running a covert operation in a maternity ward."

"What about me? You don't have to be in there!," said Sarah Jane. She looked at Jack. "Where is the Doctor? John? Whoever!"

"I got a hold of him," said Jack. "He got a plane."

"Great!," said Sarah Jane.

"It's making two stops on the way here," said Jack.

Sarah Jane groaned. "Oh, he is rubbish as a human."

She took a seat and put her face in her hands.

The Brigadier cleared his throat. "Shouldn't you go back in there?"

Sarah Jane looked up at Jack and the Brigadier in disbelief. She stood up and picked up her bag.

"I hate you all," she said as she left to rejoin Donna in the delivery room.

* * *

The flight from America seemed to be twice as long as the flight to America.

Mainly because it was. He tapped his foot at three different airports in two countries before finally arriving at Heathrow in the dead of night, not bothering to wait for his luggage and somehow running into Jack before he could get in the taxi queue.

John flew out of Jack's Land Rover and into the front doors of the hospital, not waiting for him to come to a complete stop. He had been so frantic with worry about Donna that he hadn't bothered asking how Jack had known when to pick him up.

He rushed inside the little vestibule dividing the nursery from the corridor.

"Sir?," said a nurse. "Sorry, family only in here."

"I am family, though," John said. He motioned to where he could spy Donna. "See? That's my wife. My wife, my baby."

The nurse looked back. "Oh, the famous Mr. Smith back from America. Wash your hands and put your things down."

John did as he was told and walked into the nursery. There were lots of tiny babies in there, with mums and dads hovering over them. He was both surprised and relieved to see Donna in a chair cuddling what seemed to be a normal looking baby, if a little on the light side.

"Hi," said John.

Donna looked up. "What happened to you?"

"I had to stop in Atlanta and Toronto."

Donna shook her head. "Why?"

"When I said I wanted the next flight to London, I failed to mention I wanted the quickest flight to London." He leaned over to where Donna cuddled the baby. He gently peeled back the blanket. "She's ginger."

"God help her," said Donna.

John smiled at her. "I love gingers."

Donna smiled. "Yeah, thought you might." She looked up at him to find the normally grinning, jovial John had tears in his eyes. "John? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm always fine."

"You're crying, sweetheart."

John reached up to his face, surprised to find tears. "Sorry, I don't know why I did that."

"They say she's going to be fine, John," Donna said softly. "They might want her to stay in a few days to put on a bit of weight. First time a Noble's been told that."

John nodded, too choked up to speak, trying to not cry any more.

"It's okay. You're entitled. She's your first baby," said Donna, looking back down at her. "Our first gorgeous baby."

John frowned. First born. That didn't seem quite right somehow. It seemed as if he was forgetting something, something was out of reach. He had dreams sometimes that he had other children, like a whole other life.

He dismissed it. That was daft. Those were just dreams. Donna was here and this was real, a brand new baby nestled in her arms.

For the first time he could remember, he felt as if he was home.

* * *

Jack put the Land Rover in the car park and headed back up to the UNIT section of the hospital. Various agents were packing up and heading out.

"So," said Jack, "what's the word?"

"Human," said the Brigadier.

"Human?," asked Jack. "Two months early and she's fine? What the hell is going on?"

"Human," confirmed Sarah Jane. "One heart."

"Whatever's happened to the Doctor has affected his reproductive capabilities, if that is him," said the Brigadier. He shook his head. "I cannot believe I just had to say that sentence. It's come to this."

"It makes things easier," said Jack. "No alien babies to hide, but still. She's fine?"

Sarah Jane shrugged. "I guess we'll just say it was a miracle."

The Brigadier nodded. "I suppose we should go meet with the Nobles."

"They're nice," said Jack.

"You know I meant Sylvia," said the Brigadier.

"I need a drink," said Sarah Jane.

The Brigadier pulled a flask out of his pocket and handed it to Sarah Jane.

"How long have you been carrying a flask around?," Sarah Jane asked incredulously.

"Since I met the Doctor."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. Thanks for the reads and reviews. Okay, so you probably should have seen The Christmas Invasion to follow this. I don't know why you wouldn't have. It's on Netflix. Also, some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff but I suspect you can roll with that. Oh, same disclaimer as usual, if I screw up British Christmas, I am sorry. Thanks again and happy reading!

A/N: Edit: VanillaOrchid95 has kindly pointed out that I got my dogs mixed up and put Esther, not Greta. I assure you I was picturing a Miniature Schnauzer at the time. I keep screwing that up while I type, I think it's some delayed Freudian thing I have going on, but at any rate I fixed it. Sorry everyone.

* * *

The Brigadier, Sarah Jane and Jack met for their monthly "What is the Doctor's problem and how do we protect him?" meeting. Truthfully, there hadn't been much happening at it in years. John Smith's life was pretty ordinary. Jack and Sarah Jane had begun using it as a forum to discuss Pop Idol much to the Brigadier's dismay. They had discussed Christmas and then a few months later Rose Tyler had come up.

"We have to make this quick," said the Brigadier. "I'm off to Peru in three hours."

"Peru?," asked Jack. "What are you doing in Peru?"

"You never do say," said Sarah Jane.

The Brigadier deliberately ignored them. "Where are we on the Tylers?"

Jack spoke. "Jackie Tyler has cooperated fully and the retcon seems to have taken on Rose. It's been weeks. Not a word."

"And Mr. Smith?" He sighed. "Mr. Mickey Smith?"

"Fully cooperating," said Jack. "I would keep an eye on him. UNIT might want to hire him someday."

"And the hand?"

"Right," said Jack. He dug into his bag and put a jar with a hand in it on the table.

"What is that?," Sarah Jane said, recoiling.

"This is the Doctor's hand. The one I picked up Christmas Day. Mickey and Harriet Jones said that one of the Sycorax cut it off."

"Any further confirmation?," asked the Brigadier.

"Do you think some other hand fell from the sky on Christmas Day?," asked Sarah Jane.

"We could take measurements," said the Brigadier.

"Don't you think he'll ask what it's for?," Jack asked with a wink.

The Brigadier groaned. "That'll do. I'm off to Peru."

"Oh, you always leave when things get interesting," moaned Jack.

Sarah Jane could only try to hide her smirk as the Brigadier stalked out.

"You always bring out the best in him," said Sarah Jane.

"So, Rose," said Jack, "I can't help wondering if I did the right thing. Maybe I should have trusted her."

"It didn't sound as if Mickey thought the Doctor did," said Sarah Jane.

"He used to, though."

Sarah Jane shook her head. "You know what sort of impression travelling with the Doctor can leave on a person. She had already gone that far, I doubt she would have left it alone."

Jack shrugged. "He does have that effect on people," he remarked with a smile.

* * *

_Christmas 2005_

Zoe Smith loved Christmas. Most four year olds do.

There were, of course, presents. She certainly wasn't refusing presents and this year, she, her mum and twin brother had made a special excursion to Harrod's without the big kids to look around Toy Kingdom and come up with their lists for Santa. Zoe wanted a real Barbie, like Charlotte had, not just the big dolls she had played with. She also wanted a bicycle- Jamie would need one as well so they could ride together. She was also hoping for a Peppa Pig playset and art supplies.

She also might have made a back room deal with her Great Grampy about a pink tea set, but that was between them.

There were other things, though. She liked not going to nursery school, she liked that her older siblings were at home. She liked that her dad was home for some of the Winter break and wondered why he couldn't be home all the time like Mummy. There were excursions almost every day, the big trip to see Father Christmas, ice skating in the park, Christmas pantomimes, present shopping! It was her favorite time of year.

Her birthday was also quite good.

As was summer.

She had just finished the last trip to the shops with her dad and brother. He swore it was the last trip, so help him God, whatever that meant. They had bought presents for Charlotte and Jack. They were wrapping them in the sitting room while they were confined upstairs. Well, her dad was doing most of the work with the scissors and tape. Zoe was directing the placement of bows and glitter stickers.

When she wasn't busy with other things.

"Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!," Zoe cried, jumping up and down on the sofa.

"Oi!," said John. "Mind what you're doing. Do we jump on furniture?"

"Yes," said Zoe. "You let me jump on the bed."

"That was a special occasion and you didn't have shoes on. Come over here and help me finish wrapping."

Zoe got off the sofa and walked over to where John sat.

"Jamie! Where are you?," shouted John.

"Daddy," said Zoe.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Is Father Christmas real?"

John looked up in shock. "What? Of course he's real. You've met him, remember? At Harrod's."

"Emma said she saw him at Selfridge's."

"Well," said John, fumbling for an excuse, "of course she did."

"How?," asked Zoe.

Jamie entered carrying a watch. "Dad, look what I found."

John tried to focus on the object. It was an old fob watch.

"Jamie, were you in the eaves storage again?," asked John.

"But I found it!"

"You don't need to be in there! Especially not before Christmas!"

"Can I have it?"

"No," said John. "It's just an old watch and it's a broken one at that. Stuck. Won't even open."

"You could try," said Jamie.

"No need to get clever," said John. He held up the watch. "I am putting this back and you need to stay out of the eaves storage."

"Daddy," said Zoe.

"What?"

"How can Father Christmas be at Harrod's and Selfridge's at the same time?," she asked.

"Time travel."

"What?," asked Jamie.

John nodded, not knowing why he had suddenly come up with this explanation, just pleased that he had. Time travel. He should have thought of this while Charlotte was in nursery school! "Oh, yeah, go to Harrod's take requests and then pop over to Selfridge's on the same day. He just has to be sure to never run into himself, else he'll create a paradox."

"How can he carry all those presents on his sleigh?," asked Zoe.

"Because it's dimensionally transcendental," John answered, continuing to wrap gifts.

The twins looked at each other, having no idea what John had said.

"What?," asked Jamie.

John looked up at them. "It's bigger on the inside."

"Oh," said Zoe.

Donna entered from the kitchen. "Okay, just finished some biscuits. Would anyone like some?"

"Me!," the twins shouted and ran into the kitchen, nearly knocking down Donna in the process.

Donna smiled and walked over and sat on the chair next to John. "So, have I gotten anything good?"

"That depends," said John with a smile. "Were you a good girl this year?"

"No," said Donna, "I'm afraid I might have been a little bad."

"Yes," said John, "I think you might have. Want to come over and show me what you did?"

Donna slapped him on the arm. "Children! Christmas Eve!"

"Right, we'll send them to bed at six. How's that sound?"

Donna smiled. "I'm sorry, but I think I have to send you back out to the shops."

"What?," asked John.

"We need batteries for Jack's game whatever. I forgot to get Greta anything for her stocking and Zoe is one present short of everyone else. You know what happens if they figure that out."

John groaned and shoved the fob watch into his pocket as he stood. "Fine, madame, I shall go and do your bidding. Anything in particular for Zoe?"

"Anything with a pony ought to do," said Donna.

"Alright, Christmas Eve, who knows what I might run into out there?"

* * *

John fought the London traffic and made his way to a busy shopping center. The batteries were quickest to locate. He then made his way to one of the posh pet shops and found a new rope toy and some treats for Greta. He finally started making his way to the toy shop, wondering why he had saved it for last.

He walked over the road, past a brass band of Santas playing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. He noticed one of them turning to stare at him, just before all hell broke loose.

The tuba was concealing a flame thrower of some sort and the player starting shooting it at the crowd. He ducked into a shop with some other frantic shoppers and looked out the window at them.

They set one of the carts on fire and then the other instruments started shooting bullets into the crowd.

It was bizarre to say it, but somehow the scenario seemed familiar. He found himself holding the fob watch, not even realizing he had taken it out of his pocket.

"What are those things?," asked the old woman standing next to him.

"Pilot fish," John replied without thinking.

"Pilot fish?," she said incredulously.

John shoved the watch back in his pocket. He watched as the crowd ran and the tuba flamethrower shot at the giant display Christmas tree. It toppled over, crushing the band.

John walked out in a daze along with everyone else. He then realized that the toy shop would be closing soon. Flame throwing brass bands were nowhere near as frightening as Donna.

He had hurried home and had Christmas Eve with the children and Donna. They ate supper, hung the stockings and left the mince pies and brandy for Father Christmas and a carrot for his reindeer. He got Jamie and Zoe off to bed for a Christmas story, then headed back down to get Charlotte and Jack to bed.

"Jack, Charlotte, come on bedtime," said John.

"Not yet," said Charlotte.

"Yeah, Dad, they're about to show the transmission from Guinevere One," said Jack.

John sighed. "Alright, but right after you need to be in bed." He walked over and sat between them on the sofa. "Surface of Mars. Did you know Mars is 78,341,212 kilometers from Earth? That's just an average distance, though, because both planets actually have elliptical orbits from the sun and are sometimes on the same side of the sun, while at other times they're on opposite sides of the sun so you can imagine the variation in distance."

"It's starting," said Jack eager to shut his dad up.

John leaned back and caught a glimpse of some alien faces as he found Charlotte and Jack had jumped into his lap and were screaming. He heard Donna run from the upstairs and into the sitting room.

"What on Earth is going on?," asked Donna.

"Monsters!," cried Jack.

"John, what are you letting them watch?"

"It was the news!," he said in his defense.

Donna looked at the screen. "What sort of prank is this?," she asked as the clip was replayed, letting them better see the frightful faces.

"It's not a prank!," said Charlotte. "It's aliens, coming to invade."

"Charlotte, there's no alien invasion," said Donna.

"That's what you said when the spaceship hit Big Ben!," Charlotte snapped.

"Okay, time for bed," said Donna. "John, help me."

"Your mother's right. Big day tomorrow. Come on."

John helped put the two eldest to bed and helped Donna with the last of the Christmas chores, namely assembling two bicycles, drinking down Father Christmas' brandy and eating his pies. They let Greta chew on the carrot. He was about to get in his pajamas when he realized that he was still carrying around that daft old fob watch. He headed upstairs to the eaves storage when he heard sobbing from Charlotte's room.

"Charlotte?," he asked, opening the door.

"I'm fine," she sniffled.

"Is it about the aliens?," he asked walking in by the bed.

"No."

John sat by the head of the bed. "Your mother is probably right. It's probably just a prank or something."

"What if it's not?"

"Well, let's think. What would aliens want with tiny little Earth? One green and blue spec in a great big universe, eh? Look at humans and their potential. From the day, they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there's more to be seen than can ever be seen-"

"Dad, that's The Lion King."

"Oh, sorry."

Charlotte paused. "Sometimes I think you're an alien."

John smiled. "What? Am I here to invade?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm not. I'm just your dad. All I want to be." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm downstairs if you need me."

John went back and held the fob watch one more time. It was strange. As if it were speaking to him.

He shoved it back in the box, shut the door on it and hoped he wasn't going mad.

* * *

The next morning started out like every other Christmas. Jamie, Zoe and Greta led the charge to wake up their parents and older siblings. They all headed downstairs to unwrap presents. It always went quicker than John thought it should considering the amount of preparation involved and the amount of wrapping paper on the floor. He and Donna had nearly fallen asleep on the sofa while the children played with their new toys when he heard Greta barking at the front window.

"Greta, what are you on about?," he asked walking towards the window. The dog was on the window seat. John looked out.

Everyone was out walking. Somewhere, most looked as if they were in a trance, others were frantically tending to loved ones. Some were still in their pajamas.

"What's going on?," Donna asked.

"I have no idea. Hold on."

He walked outside. Donna was right behind him. He looked down the road and saw a tall building. The people in the trance were heading up the fire escape and standing on the roof.

"They're standing on the roof," said Donna. "All of them."

John nodded. "Let's get back in the house with the children and ring your family."

The Nobles were fine, arguing over whose job it had been to buy the Brussel sprouts and completely unaware of what was going on. John then went to ring his sister.

"Well?," asked Donna.

John shook his head. "She hasn't answered. Not her home, not her work."

Donna nodded. "You should go."

"Mummy! Peppa Pig's not on!," shouted Zoe.

"Oh, God," sighed Donna.

She and John went back in the sitting room. Peppa Pig was in fact not on, Harriet Jones was in her place.

"Ladies and gentlemen... if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled. Did we ask about the royal family?" The Prime Minister paused. "Oh. They're on the roof. But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor. If you're out there... we need you."

"Doctor," said John, letting it roll on his tongue.

"What does she mean 'Doctor'?," asked Donna.

There was a knock at the door. John went to get it.

"Mum, what's she talking about?," asked Charlotte.

"There's nothing to worry about, sweetheart," said Donna. "Your dad's just got to go find your Auntie Sarah Jane and make certain she's alright."

John opened the door to find Jack.

"Okay," said Jack, "no time to waste. Sorry."

"Cousin Jack!," shouted Jamie. "Come see my Legos!"

"I got a PSP!," Jack the younger shared excitedly.

"That's great, guys. John, you need to come with me."

"What?," asked John.

"Right now, we have to go," said Jack.

John shook his head. "Go where? I have to go find Sarah Jane. She's not answering either of her phones."

"I'll get somebody to find her, okay, but you need to come with me."

"For what?" He realized Zoe was standing next to him, having taken his hand.

Jack stood straight. "The TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS."

"Jack, that's not even a proper word. Are you going to tell me what you want or not?"

"You really don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Greta howled and they heard a huge sonic boom, reverberating throughout the house and shattering the windows.

"Everyone stay on the furniture," said Donna, lifting the dog onto the sofa.

"What was that?," asked Jack the younger.

"That was a sonic wave," said Jack the elder, looking out where the window used to be. "That is one big mother ship!"

John looked down at Zoe. She was sobbing and her face was bleeding.

"Oh, my God," said John. He picked her up. "Donna, Jack."

Donna looked up. "Oh, my God."

"Mummy!," Zoe screamed as John hurried her into the kitchen.

"I'm here, sweetheart!," Donna called, following them into the kitchen. "Everyone stay on the sofa until I clean up the glass!"

Donna held Zoe and Jack helped keep her still as John tried to clean up her face.

"Something's in my eye!," Zoe screamed, struggling against Jack and Donna.

"Okay, okay, sweetheart, just stay calm."

Zoe answered by screaming some more.

John shook his head. "I don't think I can get it."

"Can you flush it out?," asked Jack.

"We have to take her to hospital," said Donna.

This elicited more crying from Zoe.

"Okay, okay," said John, sitting her up to sit in Donna's lap. "I'll ring your parents to come watch the kids."

"John," said Jack.

"Seriously, Jack, once I get my daughter to hospital and find my sister, we'll do whatever your thing is, alright?"

Jack's mobile rang. "Hello?" He paused. "What? Really? Okay, I'll be down there as soon as I can."

John and Donna took turns hurrying to get dressed. Jack started sweeping up the glass from the sitting room.

"Okay, children, be good for your Cousin Jack until Gran and Gramps get here," said Donna. She looked at Jack. "Are you sure you're alright? You were right by the windows as well."

Jack smiled. "Not a mark on me."

Donna looked. "No, I guess not."

John came back in with Zoe, her coat wrapped around her. "Donna?"

"Right, we're going. We'll be back soon, children," said Donna.

The A&E was hectic to say the least with other injuries from shattered glass and some accidental falls. The screaming Zoe got them into a curtained off area with quickly dispensed pain medicine. She was hurried into surgery. John finally got a call from Sarah Jane saying she was alright, she had been on the edge of a building for a while, but was feeling much better now. Finally, John and Donna sat pensively watching television, which was all about Harriet Jones and her suddenly failing health.

"Don't you think she looks tired?," asked John.

Donna snorted. "She's not the only one."

John looked outside to see the sky had grown dark and it was snowing.

"So, snow and every window in London is broken," said Donna. She looked at John. "Are you alright?"

John shook his head. "I'm fine. I just have this weird sense of deja vu, like I've done all this before."

Donna frowned at him. "This has been the weirdest, most terrifying day of my life and you feel like you've done it all before?"

"I know," said John, staring out the window. "Does that look like proper snow to you?"


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. Still. Again, trying with my London geography. Trying. Thanks for the reads and reviews and follows. Hope you like this chapter and let me know what you think of it, if you want. Happy reading!

* * *

As far as Jack Smith was concerned, his dad was the greatest dad in the world, whole universe maybe. He was great at everything, could mend just about anything, he knew languages and how to drive a car.

Sport. His dad was good at lots of things. Every year they won the son and father relay at his school. That was because his dad was a real runner. He did the marathon every year and Jack looked forward to it. His dad always took him to the expo and this year had taken him in the car to show him the whole route. Jack tried saying he could run it, but his dad said he couldn't and perhaps when he was older.

They had the same supper every year. Pasta. Then Dad went to bed early while Mum helped them make signs.

"I don't want to make one," said Jack.

Donna frowned. "Well, you don't have to. I thought you would, though."

"I don't want to get it wrong," said Jack. "Dad will be embarrassed."

"Come here, sweetheart," said Donna, holding her arms out. She took him in a tight hug. "You could not embarrass your dad. He loves you."

"They think I'm stupid at school," he said.

"Now, stop that. You are brilliant. You just have trouble with letters, okay? You just have to work a bit harder, that's all."

Jack nodded.

"Would you like me to help you get the words right on your sign?," asked Donna.

He nodded again.

"Okay," said Donna, handing him a marker. "Let's sit and think about what you want it to say."

* * *

Early the next afternoon, they were standing at the Mall, waiting for John to come by. They had checked in at all the best spots along the route and stopped for a quick lunch. Donna actually thought it was a rather fun outing even though it was a major hassle to take four children around London on public transport for the better part of a day. They all adored their father and she was happy to let them indulge in it for a day. After all, he was really too perfect. Someone had to keep him in check.

"Where's Daddy? Did we miss him?," asked Zoe.

"No, sweetheart," said Donna, squeezing her hand. "He must still be running."

"You mean Daddy didn't win?," asked Jamie.

"No, my love," Donna said with a smile. She looked over at Jack and Charlotte. "Still got the posters?"

"Yes, Mum," Charlotte said with a groan. "How much longer?"

"You behave yourself, young lady. I won't have you turning into a teenager yet. Your dad trains very hard for this and we should cher him on, just the way he cheers you on."

"It's cold," she complained.

"Donna!"

"Gramps!," shouted Jamie. He and Zoe ran towards Geoffrey and Wilf as they approached. The twins walked back to the rest of the family.

"Mum didn't come with you?," asked Donna.

"Oh, you know her, didn't want to bother with public transport," said Geoff, kissing Donna on the cheek.

"I tried telling her it's impossible to get around today otherwise," said Wilf. "Where did you last see him?"

"Back at the Docklands," said Donna. "He was doing really well."

"I thought he was going to win," said Zoe, looking dejected. Donna shared a smile with her dad and grandfather over it.

"It's not like that," said Jack. "You have to be like an Olympian or something to win."

"Oh," said Zoe.

"It's just a really long way, that's why it's important," said Jack. He looked back into the wave of runners. "There he is!"

They started shouting and jumping up and down as they saw John. He waved at them, looking exhausted. They kept up the noise as he went through the finishers' chute.

A few minutes later, they managed to find him in the meeting area at Horse Guards' Parade. Donna could hardly keep track of Jack, Jamie and Zoe as they ran towards him for hugs. She was next, then they cajoled Charlotte into one.

"You smell awful," said Charlotte.

"Yes, I am well aware," said John, taking another drink of water.

"You didn't win," said Jamie.

John shrugged and grinned. "Yeah, but it was close, wasn't it?"

"Congratulations, John," said Geoff.

"Well done," said Wilf.

"Can I see your medal?," asked Jack.

"Of course you can," said John. He took it from around his neck and handed it to Jack.

"That's so cool," said Jack. He proudly showed it to Wilf and Geoff who made a suitable fuss over it.

"Okay," said Donna, "let's get some pictures so we can get Daddy home."

* * *

Earlier in the week, Jack had made a request to interview his dad after the marathon for a report for school. Once he had showered and eaten about half the refrigerator and the little ones had gone to bed, John settled into the chair in the sitting room. He was feeling quite flattered that he had managed to impress his son like this. He watched bemused as Jack came over with a pencil and a pad of paper, trying to look very serious.

"Are you ready, Dad?"

"Yeah. Go ahead. Ask away."

Jack sat cross-legged on the floor. "When were you born?"

"Oh, that's easy. Twenty-third of March, nineteen seventy."

"That's really long ago," said Jack.

"I know. I'm ancient, really," he said smiling.

"What were your parents' names?"

"Sydney and Verity."

"What did you like to do when you were young?"

John sighed and tried to think. "I don't know. Cricket, probably."

Jack frowned. "Okay. Where did you go to school?"

"Gallifrey," said John, not even thinking.

"Where is that? In Ireland?"

"Yeah, must be." He looked down to see Jack stymied. "Well, go on."

"What did you want to be when you grew up?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Donna entered with a plate and handed it to John. "Here. That's for you."

"Ooh, pears," he said, eagerly taking it.

Donna sat down. "How's it going?"

"Lousy," muttered Jack.

"What?," asked John. "I thought we were getting along fine."

"You don't know anything!," Jack complained. "It's an interview about you and you're not saying anything!"

"I..."

"Jack," Donna said, taking John's hand in hers, "your dad had an accident before he ever met me. He was injured and he doesn't always remember everything from when he was younger."

"Right," said John.

"I need a good mark on this, though. I'm failing English."

"You're not going to fail, remember?," asked Donna. "We all spoke together and you're going to get extra help."

"I'm going to be left behind," he grumbled. "Everyone thinks I'm stupid!"

"You're not stupid," said John. "You're very clever. You just need help with reading and writing, that's all."

"Just like I said last night," said Donna.

John nodded. "Now, come on, let's finish."

"I don't want to."

"No, come on, Jack."

"No!," Jack shouted as he stood, tossing aside the pad and paper. "I hate it! I hate school! I hate you!"

"Jack! Don't you dare!," said Donna.

Jack stomped up the stairs. Donna stood as John tugged her hand. "Just give him a moment."

"He can't say he hates you."

"He's frustrated and I can't blame him. The school's not been much help to him. Let him be angry for a minute."

John tried to give him some time to settle down. He persuaded Donna to give him twenty minutes to cool down, then he would go and speak with him. He headed upstairs and made the walk to Jack's room.

"Jack?," he asked, knocking on the door. "Jack?"

He took a breath and opened the door. The first thing he noticed was that the window was open, rain shooting in and getting the rug wet.

"Jack?"

He walked over to the bed noticing a few key things were missing: Jack's knapsack, his skateboard. He then saw a letter on the bed.

"Donna!," John shouted.

Donna ran in. "What? What is it?"

"He's run away."

"Oh, my God," said Donna.

"You phone the police. I'll go look for him. How far could he have gone?"

Donna picked up his football money box and shook it. "Empty."

"How much did he have in there?"

"I don't know, a hundred pounds?"

John was incredulous. "How did he get a hundred pounds?"

She scowled. "John! Go find him!"

John ran downstairs and got in the Land Rover. He drove the streets at a snail's pace, desperate not to miss a boy walking to alone on the streets.

* * *

Rose Tyler was trying to get on the train home from her sixth job in six months. One stint as a waitress was so short she didn't even really remember getting sacked. She had settled into her latest gig at Gap on the Chiswick High Street. A little far away, but she had time to think on the commute. She needed that because she was starting to realize she didn't know what to do with the rest of her life. She had just gotten into the tube station when she noticed a little boy standing alone.

It was almost midnight. What was he doing out here? She looked around to see no one taking notice of him. Rose walked over to the boy and he was staring hopelessly at a map. Suddenly, he burst into tears.

"Hey," said Rose approaching, "what's wrong? Has something happened to you?"

"I don't know where I am," he said, sobbing.

"That's alright," said Rose. She pointed at the "You are here" dot on the map. "Right there."

He shook his head. "I can't read it. All the words are jumbled."

"Okay," said Rose. "Well, this is Stamford Brook station. Where do you want to go? Where's home?"

"I don't want to go home. I'm running away!," he said emphatically.

Rose nodded. "Well, I'm Rose. What's your name?"

"Jack," he said, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his jacket.

"Jack. I had a really great friend named Jack."

"I'm named after my cousin."

"Well, Jack, why don't we sit over there and decide where you're going?"

"I'm not going home," he said.

"I know. I just want to make sure you get to the right place."

Rose took Jack over to the bench and sat with him.

"So, where do you want to go? Anywhere in the whole world, where are you going?," she asked.

"Disneyland Paris."

"Wow," said Rose. "Good spot to run away to."

"I went to Disney World for Easter break, I would go there, but I only have a hundred pounds."

"You've thought this through, then?"

"Yeah. I'm going to take a train there."

Rose shook her head. "I've never been."

"Do you want to come with me?," asked Jack.

Rose smiled. "Oh, you have no idea what happened the last time I agreed to travel with someone."

"What?"

"Oh, you know, just travelling. Then it all ended one day." She paused and looked back at Jack. "What happened? Did you have a row with your mum and dad?"

"I hate school," he said.

"What's wrong with school?"

"I'm stupid. I get all my letters mixed up."

"So, you're running away so you don't have to go to school? That's your plan?"

"Yes," he said defensively.

"I think you must be pretty clever if you've got a hundred pounds and a plan to go to Disneyland Paris. Have you got your passport?"

"Yes."

"Can I tell you something, Jack?"

He nodded.

"I ran away once. It seemed like life was so boring, like I had to get out. So, I ran off with this... friend. I didn't tell my mum even. I just went."

"For how long?"

"A year," said Rose.

"A year? Was she cross?"

"You have no idea. My mum can get pretty cross when she wants to."

Jack snorted. "I bet my mum can get crosser than your mum."

"You still love her, though? I bet she's worried sick about you."

Jack was silent.

"Do you want to borrow my phone and talk to her?"

He shook his head.

"I think you'd miss her if you left forever. And your dad. Do you have a dad?"

"Yeah."

"I only met my dad once. I wish I could have known him better."

"Two sisters. And a brother. And Greta."

"Who's Greta?"

"She's our dog."

"Well, she must be missing you by now."

"Yeah."

"Why don't I help you get home? Where do you live?"

"Lionel Road."

"That's just on the other side of Gunnersbury Park, isn't it?"

Jack nodded.

"Well, come on," said Rose, standing up. She held out her hand for Jack and he took it.

* * *

The rain was really starting to come down when Rose heard some tires squealing. She looked round to see a Land Rover pulling up, half parking on the sidewalk. She looked down at Jack.

"That's my dad," he said.

Rose looked back in surprise to see the Doctor heading right for them. He fell on his knees and took Jack into his arms.

"My God, Jack! What on Earth were you thinking? Don't you ever do something like that again!"

"I'm okay. Rose helped me," said Jack.

He looked up at Rose. "I can't thank you enough."

Rose was stunned. The Doctor stood up and started patting his pockets.

"I usually have a business card with me. I'm John Smith, Director of the Global Children's Trust. If you ever need anything just, ring my office."

"Doctor," she said.

"No, just mister," he said with a frown.

"No, you're the Doctor. What are you doing?'

John squinted and looked at Rose. His eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, come on! You're that mad waitress!"

"Mad waitress?," she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know what you're playing at, but stay away from my family."

"Your family?"

"Dad, she helped me," Jack protested.

"Come on, Jack. Get in the car. I am not a doctor!"

"The Doctor!," Rose corrected.

"What? That's just daft," he said loading Jack in the back of the car.

"Doctor, wait!," shouted Rose.

She stood helplessly as he got in the Land Rover and drove off.

* * *

John drove home to find police cars in front of the house. Donna was torn between hugging Jack and shouting at him, so she alternated between the two for a while and finally settled on kissing his cheek a thousand times or so and making him swear to never frighten them like that again. After everything was sorted with the police, they put Jack to bed and then headed off to collapse themselves.

That night John had a dream he had not had in years. One of his bizarre ones, he had more of them back when he had first met Donna. He always assumed it was some side effect of the accident.

This one was of a little boy. He always assumed it was of him. There were lots of people with severe expressions wearing robes and funny hats. There were other children dressed in the same robes as him, all the same age.

The adults led them to something. They called it "The Untempered Schism," though John never knew what that meant the next morning.

He walked towards it and it was as if he was seeing everything at once. It was overwhelming.

He ran.

He never stopped running and this was where the dream had always cut off, but now he was seeing everything. A great glass dome with a city beneath it with spires and cathedrals. Red grass. Trees with silver leaves. Twin suns.

He ran into a great seal with a funny sort of circular pattern on it.

When John woke up, he realized where he had seen the pattern before.

On his old, broken fob watch in the eaves storage.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Doctor, Donna, Rose or Peppa Pig. Thank you for the reads and reviews, follows and favorites. Anyway, let me know what you think of this one if you want and happy reading!

* * *

It had been days since the marathon and since John had pulled the fob watch out of the eaves storage. He laid awake staring at it as Donna read in bed next to him.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?," asked Donna.

"Nothing," said John, turning the old fob watch over and over in his hands.

Donna scooted closer on the bed. "It doesn't seem like nothing. You've been staring at that watch for days."

"I know this watch is broken, but I don't remember how it was broken."

"Maybe it got broken in your accident."

"That too. I know I was in an accident, but I don't remember it. I know I went to school, but I don't remember it."

Donna rubbed his shoulder. "Jack didn't mean anything by that, sweetheart. He's just going through a rough patch."

"I know, it's just..." he turned to face her. "Sometimes I feel as if I'm not real."

"You're not real?"

"I know, I feel like a fraud."

"What is this? Some midlife crisis thing? Please don't buy a Porsche."

"No, I love my life. I do. You, the kids, I adore it, I just feel like maybe I don't belong. Like I'm the outsider."

"How could you be an outsider? You're my husband. You're their dad."

"I don't know."

Donna leaned over and kissed him. "I love you. That's real."

"Do you remember those nightmares I used to have?"

"Oh, God, yes, the terrible ones. Are you having them again?"

"I've been thinking about them. People dying, monsters, things..."

"They were just nightmares, sweetheart."

Donna tried to reassure him as she always had, but John couldn't shake the thought of the nightmares. What if they weren't? What if the nightmares were real? That man in his dreams, the one who did all those terrible things, what if that's who he really was?

John walked around in a haze the next few days. He had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen, like a piano was about to fall on his head or something.

The watch. He couldn't let go of the watch.

He went back up to the eaves storage where he had dug the damn thing out. There he also found the journal where he had written and drawn about his nightmares, with monsters, faraway planet and a man called...

The Doctor. In his dreams, the man was called the Doctor. He had forgotten all about it. He was so busy with Donna and the children and life. Who had time to think about a nightmare from ages ago?

Why had the girl called him Doctor? Harriet Jones had said the same thing on telly, then not long after Jack had come to get him. He never had said what he wanted.

Why was the girl in the book? How could the girl be in the book? He had made it ages ago and she couldn't be more than nineteen.

He held the watch. It kept giving him flashes from the nightmares and words he didn't understand.

It was madness. Complete and utter madness. He wasn't some man called the Doctor, whatever that was meant to be.

Then why did he want to open that watch? Why did it sound as if it was speaking to him, like the ocean inside a seashell?

Why did he sound different when he held it? Every time he answered a question for the children, he had a better answer, knowledge he couldn't remember getting.

So, he took a last bite of pear and opened the fob watch.

The Doctor's first reaction was to gag on the pear and tear past Zoe in the hallway as he rushed to the loo.

"Daddy?," she asked.

"Pears! I hate pears!"

The Doctor rushed to the sink, turned on the faucet and rinsed out his mouth. He then took a ridiculously huge gulp of Aquafresh and spit it out.

"Daddy, are you okay?"

Zoe was standing in the doorway looking with concern at the man she thought was her father.

"Oh, no," said the Doctor. "Oh, no. What have I done?"

She came and took his hand. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

"Um," he tried to search his mind for what John Smith would say, "Daddy's not feeling well." Why did humans lie to their children so much? Of course, in this instance he wasn't quite willing to tell Zoe that he was actually an alien and their life up to this point had been a lie.

"Is your tummy upset?," she asked.

She wasn't a lie, though. Everything about her was so genuine, so pure, so human.

"No, Zoe, my tummy's fine."

"You said you hate pears."

"I do."

"You always eat pears."

That bloody John Smith. Eating pears. Hadn't he left some instructions somewhere? He was certain that was on the list. Wait, he was John Smith. John Smith was him. This was getting impossible to straighten out.

"Well, now I hate pears."

"Okay," said Zoe. She wrapped her arms around his legs and squeezed.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought you needed a hug."

He did.

"I do. Thank you."

"Zoe! Supper!," he heard Donna call.

"Run along to your mother," said the Doctor. "I'll be fine."

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, Zoe," he said. How had that just slipped out? Time Lords never threw around such sentiments. Even with his own children.

She reminded him of them as she scampered away. He sat on the bed. He had to think this through. What had happened?

He had survived the Time War. The last of his kind. He had survived that last day with Rose and walked away. So what else could he do? He did what he always did: he went off to see the universe.

Then he encountered the Aubertide. He had no choice except to hide himself as a human. What the hell had happened after that? He remembered arriving at Sarah Jane's house, thinking he was her brother. She and the Brig had put in so much work. Jack as well.

Jack. He had named his son after a beloved cousin who was in fact a sexually crazed immortal, former Time Agent Boe Kind from the 51st century.

Actually, he had named his twins after two former companions.

Were they even his? This was John Smith's life and he was gone, but he wasn't. He was still somewhere inside. How had things gotten so out of hand? He was only supposed to hide for three months not have a whole life! What was he going to do about his life? Just walk downstairs and announce that he was an alien?

Donna was going to kill him.

"John!," he heard Donna calling. "John!"

She came in the bedroom. "Zoe said you weren't feeling well." She put her hand on his forehead. "Well, no fever. You're freezing. Are you alright?"

"I..." He covered his mouth with his hand. He didn't want to speak, didn't want to give anything away. What if Donna knew it? What would happen?

Did he even love her now that he wasn't human? Oh, he could have lived forever like that. He had everything, a wife, beautiful children. Now he'd just be an alien again. He wouldn't belong, he wasn't like them anymore.

"Sweetheart..." said Donna. She sat down on the bed next to him and motioned at the empty fob watch in his hand. "Is it the watch? Did Jamie break it? If I told him once, I told him a thousand times to stay out of the eaves storage."

"No, it's fine."

"Were you thinking about your dad?," asked Donna.

"No," he said. Then that all came back. Gallifrey burning, the war, the Daleks, losing everyone. It was overwhelming...

Donna sat on the bed next to him and rubbed his back. "It's okay. You've got us."

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't."

"What are you talking about?," asked Donna. She kissed him on the cheek. "Of course you have."

She was still rubbing his back. It felt so good. It had been so long since anyone had touched him like that. As the Doctor. It was different from what he had felt as John Smith. It was just waves of Donna coming off her and it was wonderful. So warm and full of love, for her children, for him.

No. It was really for John Smith. But there was no John Smith. John Smith was somewhere in him. She was looking at him, though.

The Doctor felt something.

He wanted her.

"I want you," he said breathless.

"What?," asked Donna. "Right now?"

"Yes." He grabbed the back of her head and brought her lips to his. Oh, that still felt good. Better maybe.

"John, let me breathe!," she protested, pushing him off.

Right. Respiratory bypass. He would need to keep that in check.

"The kids are eating supper."

He turned. "Then they're busy."

She was still slack jawed. "What is making you so randy all of a sudden?"

"Call it a new outlook," he said, working her top over her head.

"Your hands are freezing," she said.

Oh. Right. The hands. The everything, actually.

Donna smiled. "Well, don't stop," she said.

"Right," he said, kissing her on the lips, then moving down. "Not stopping. Never stopping."

"Well, you better stop soon, I only left enough fish fingers down there for one serving and you know how Jack is."

"I just need you, Donna."

"Mummy! Jack took my fish fingers!," Zoe shouted.

Donna smiled at the Doctor. "We have to go down there or she'll starve to death."

"Right," said the Doctor.

"Once we get them to bed, I'm all yours."

The Doctor followed Donna downstairs to a sight that he had seen thousands of times before through the eyes of John Smith. The children were sitting around the table. Jamie was tossing peas at Charlotte. Jack was gleefully eating Zoe's fish fingers. It was different now, though, it seemed like so much more than it had.

"Oi! That's enough!," said Donna. "Jamie, stop throwing your food or you'll go to bed without any! Jack, you cannot take your baby sister's fish fingers!"

"I love fish fingers!"

"I'm hungry," said Zoe.

"That's alright, sweetheart," said Donna walking to the freezer. "Zoe, while I make more fish fingers, would you like a Cadbury Flake Cone or a Peppa Pig Ice Cream Lolly?"

"Peppa Pig!," shouted Zoe.

"That's not fair!," exclaimed Jack.

"Why does she get dessert first?," griped Charlotte.

"Because you two should be looking out for your little sister," said Donna.

"I didn't take them," complained Charlotte.

"No, but you watched him and didn't do anything," said Donna. She handed Zoe the Peppa Pig Ice Cream Lolly. "John?"

The Doctor looked up to see Donna staring at him. "Sorry? What?"

"Would you help me clean up the table?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Donna looked at him. "Distracted by the thought of something?," she asked with a wink.

"Yeah," he said finally cracking a smile at the thought of what Donna thought he was distracted by, "you might say that."

The Doctor went to clean up the peas and the smashed bits of fish on the table, then sat quietly with the family while Donna asked the children about their day. Charlotte was keen on going to some concert Donna thought she was too young for. He might have been asked to chaperone that, he couldn't remember. Jack was struggling to get along with the assistant the school paired him up with to help with his dyslexia. Zoe and Jamie were going with the nursery school on an excursion to Kew Gardens the next day. He had so much he wanted to say about all of that, but he didn't because he knew as soon as he revealed too much knowledge, it would be over. He would be alone again.

He didn't want to be alone again.

* * *

On the way to the Gap, Rose stopped by the restaurant she couldn't remember being sacked from.

"Rose!," exclaimed her friend, Kay. "What are you doing here? You don't want Kenneth to see you, trust me."

"Kay, I got sacked, right?"

"Yeah," said Kay, giving Rose a skeptical look.

"Can you tell me why?"

"You called some bloke who was here with his family 'The Doctor' and the wife ran out in a huff."

"The wife?," asked Rose.

"Yeah, you asked me for the phone number she made the reservation under."

"A phone number? Have you still got it?"

"Yeah," said Kay, flipping back through the reservation book. She wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Rose. "What's this all about, Rose?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out. Thanks."

Rose walked out staring at the slip of paper. "Mrs. Donna Smith," she said aloud. "Well, how many Donna Smiths can there be on Lionel Road?"

* * *

That night the Doctor laid next to Donna in a mess of tangled sheets.

John Smith. John Smith's ordinary human life. He found himself oddly jealous of it. After all, he didn't do domestic. Domestic was boring. Was it, though? As far as he could remember and he could remember everything, he had never had a boring day as John Smith, especially not since he had met Donna and become a dad.

What if he told them? What would he tell them? He was an alien? They had no dad? That could wreck them forever. He couldn't leave them unprotected, either. Even though they were human, what if someone made the connection and tried to use them against him? What would happen then?

There it was then. Earth. London. He had to stay here and try not to interfere in any major events or get himself injured so badly he would need to regenerate. He supposed eventually he might have to think of something when Donna noticed he didn't age. Or get ill. Or die.

Donna dying. He squeezed her next to him. He didn't want to think about that. Or the children. He could outlive them as well. What a wretched mess this was. How had the TARDIS managed to do all this?

"The TARDIS!," he shouted.

"What?," Donna asked groggily.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Go back to sleep."

The TARDIS. Where was the TARDIS? He had to get the TARDIS back. It had been over ten years! The Old Girl was certain to be furious with him, wherever she was, then again it was partially her fault. He had sworn he had left a message before he used the Chameleon Arch. His only option was to ask the ship to take him to one of his former companions and he wasn't surprised she had chosen Sarah Jane. He had also asked the TARDIS to play a message from him, explaining the situation and asking them to open the watch after three months.

UNIT probably had her. Well, that could be sorted. Even if they weren't doing anything with her, they certainly didn't need her. First thing in the morning, he would get her.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who or the stuff I pilfered from the Sarah Jane Adventures. I had sort of a hard time coming up with this chapter and now I wonder why. I had to rethink some of the story in general. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favorited. Don't worry, lurker readers, I like you, too, though I would like hearing from you. I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think. Happy reading!

* * *

Searching for a blue box inside UNIT was not a simple task. First, had been Sarah Jane. He had invited himself over to her house with Zoe and Jamie. They provided an excellent distraction while he tried to conduct a search of the house. Other than a super computer in the attic, he hadn't found anything. It had been a close call and he had to wipe the recent cache, but it had afforded him the chance to "borrow" Sarah Jane's UNIT access card while Jamie ran circles around the sitting room with an antique toy once belonging to Lavinia Smith. Jamie and Zoe were surprisingly useful companions without even getting instructions. Definitely more useful than some he could think of.

After he obtained possession of the card, it was a simple matter of altering the data encryption on the microchip and making his way to UNIT. That was a bit tricky, he didn't want to risk using his car so he borrowed one from the neighbor up the road who had been in a foul mood ever since Jamie had run through her rose bushes on the bicycle he'd gotten for Christmas. John had spent at least two hours tending the wounds from the thorns, then came downstairs to find Donna and the neighbor having a screaming match over the fact that the woman was more concerned with her roses than Jamie's health. John had tried to broker peace and offered to buy new rose bushes, an offer Donna quickly rescinded on his behalf. The Doctor shared Donna's views of such matters as women who screeched about their rose bushes before asking if a boy of five was alright. He decided the best thing to do was to take her car and leave it on a top secret installation.

Then it was off to UNIT.

The first step was to get inside, which wasn't too difficult. None of the UNIT front door men were all that clever. He was hopeful that his identity as John Smith was so top secret that no one would recognize him and this appeared to be the case as he chatted with the soldiers at the front desk.

"Pardon me, is Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart in today?," he asked.

"No, sir, the Brigadier is on assignment in Peru."

"Peru?," he squeaked. "What? Really?"

"Yes, sir."

The Doctor was surprised. He had supposed that all the times that his family friend Alistair told him he had business in Peru was some sort of lie. Donna had supposed that it had something to do with some comely Peruvian natives. Blimey if it hadn't been the truth!

The Doctor continued on down the hall where he ran into two of the Groske, a short, blue race with tri-pointed heads, that was apparently assisting UNIT.

"Say, don't suppose you've seen a blue box?," he inquired.

"No," said the more senior Groske.

"Hmm, that's funny, I can almost hear her."

"You smell like time," said the junior Groske.

"Really?," asked the Doctor. He licked his hand. "I can't taste it. Say, is there anything else around here that smells like time?"

The Groske pointed towards a door with a huge locking mechanism and lots of warning stickers on it. "There. In the restricted zone."

"Oh, brilliant. Thank you."

The Doctor swiped Sarah Jane's card, which he had modified a great deal. The locks popped open and the door slid open. The Doctor jumped inside before it shut.

He walked down the corridor past all sorts of alien artifacts: Slitheen weapons, some Krillitane knickknacks and pieces of the fallen Sycorax ship. At the very end of the corridor he found two rooms: one was some sort of observation post and the other was locked. From around the corner, he spied on just what they were observing in the room: a blue box. A beautiful, wonderful blue box.

There were two UNIT underlings observing. He had to get them out somehow.

He hurried back down the corridor and found a panel. He pulled it out and stripped the wiring, first causing the lights to flicker and then he managed to finally set off the emergency alarms. He saw the two flunkies hurry down the corridor to evacuate.

The Doctor rushed to the other room.

There she was. The Old Girl. He smiled as he heard her hum. He reached behind the letter "P" for the spare key and went inside.

He strode over to the console. His coat was hanging over the jumpseat. He picked up his sonic screwdriver and kissed it he was so happy to see it. The psychic paper was there as well.

"Oh, hello, you," he said running his fingers over the console. "Miss me?"

His answer was a slight jolt of electricity to his fingertips.

"Oi! Sorry! I ought to be the one complaining! Didn't you show Sarah Jane the instructions? I woke up with a mouthful of pear!"

The TARDIS grumbled.

"Oh, and a wife. And kids. Maybe you should have said something to Sarah Jane about opening the watch in three months!"

The ship hummed inquisitively.

"No, don't even think like that. They don't know anything about you. They don't know anything about me, really."

The TARDIS hummed insistently at him.

"Oh, what am I supposed to do? Walk in there and say 'By the way, I'm an alien?' That would wreck their lives." He paused. "Besides, we have bigger problems. Like how to get you out of here without this lot noticing. Don't suppose you've got some plan-"

A door to the side of the console room popped open revealing a slightly smaller blue police box. Not a big enough size difference for the average person to notice. He walked to the new storage room and knocked on the box. It was hollow! Completely hollow, a dummy TARDIS, the Old Girl was brilliant! He started shifting the box out, through the console room and up the ramp. The TARDIS temporarily expanded her doors to allow the other box to fit through.

Throughout this process, the Doctor failed to notice a shelf in the storage room with four small boxes on it.

"So," said the Doctor satisfied with completing the task, "nothing to do but wipe UNIT's computers for the last hour or so and head home."

* * *

The Doctor set the TARDIS inside the potting shed in the back garden. He and Donna hardly went out there and there was nothing in there worth the kids' attention. He decided to fix a lock on it, just in case someone wandered by or worse yet, Jack or Sarah Jane had a look. He changed out of the uniform and went into the house.

"John, where have you been?," asked Donna.

"Oh, hello, you're home."

Donna nodded. "It's ten o'clock on a school night. Yes, where else would I be? Where were you?"

He checked his watch. He was quite late. He would need to discuss that with the TARDIS. "At my office."

Donna shook her head. "I rang. No one picked up."

"Oh, sent them all home. No reason for everyone to be slaving away, nose to the grindstone-"

"Right," said Donna. "Are you hungry?"

"No. I had a banana earlier."

"Are you sure you're alright?," asked Donna.

"Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You haven't been eating much lately. Even the children have noticed."

"Oh, sorry," said the Doctor.

"Don't be sorry. I just don't want it to be anything serious." She looked at his choice of clothing. "Those pinstripes make you look even skinnier. When did you start wearing trainers with your suits?"

"Oh, I just wanted something a bit more comfortable. Don't you like it?"

"You look nice in that blue. Besides, no one will care if you show up wearing trainers and a suit. You're a bloody genius, you can wear whatever you want."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, why do you think Bill Gates has that haircut? Or Steve Jobs. He always turns up in a black turtleneck and jeans."

"Never thought of it like that," remarked the Doctor.

Donna motioned at the table. "Can you sit? I want to talk about something."

"Sure," said the Doctor pulling up a chair.

Donna sat across from him. "I've been thinking. Next week is the end of summer term."

"Yes."

"Then in September, Jamie and Zoe are off to school for the whole day. I'll have a lot of time on my hands."

"Okay..."

"I was thinking of going back to work."

"Work? What do you want to work for? You never wanted to go back before."

"The kids will all be at school. What am I supposed to do with myself?"

The Doctor looked around. "I don't know. I thought you always had stuff to do here."

"So what? I'm your slave? I'm only capable of toiling away in this house all day?"

"When were you toiling?" Donna had never mentioned toiling before. He was certain he would have remembered it.

"Oh, so it's not work?"

Oh! This was turning into one of those conversations that usually resulted in John Smith sleeping on the sofa with Greta. "I didn't say that. I just didn't realize you were toiling."

"You know, I might like talking to adults for a change, for my schedule to not revolve around when Spongebob comes on."

"What's with Spongebob anyway? Is he some sort of sponge that has been artificially animated or is he some sort of naturally occurring species of sea sponge?"

Donna pointed at him. "See, that's exactly the sort of question I don't want to ponder."

"So, you want to go in an office or something?"

"Yes. Why not? You do."

"Well..."

"I'm not as clever as you? I won't be able to survive in the real world? Oh, thank God you're here to save me."

"I never said that!" Blimey, he was as bad at these conversations as John had been. Maybe worse.

"I've been in this house for almost ten years, John. I need something different. Something important."

The Doctor sighed. "If you need something else, Donna, I understand that, but what you do is important."

Donna shook her head. "It's so not."

"Yes, it is. You gave life to four tiny and fragile creatures. You nurtured them, nursed them, taught them and you did it all... just to do it. We'd all be nothing without you. I know I would be."

"Now, I know that's not true," said Donna.

"It's more true than you know."

"Well," said Donna after a long silence, "I've contacted Denise at the old agency. I have to do a bit of updating on my CV and go in and have a chat with her. I'll probably need a new computer course or something. Then I'll probably have some other interviews. Hopefully, they can find a place for me."

This was leaving a bad taste in the Doctor's mouth.

Donna could tell.

"Look, John, I just need to do this for me," she said. "Let me try."

The Doctor nodded. "Alright."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. Okay, so, it's been about three weeks, which is excessive, I grant you. Some stuff came up, but more importantly I wrote about five different versions of where this story was going. I promise you I did have a plan when I began this story, but then realized it was a lot like another story. I almost brought back the Master, the Rani, the 456, Rassilon, there was a cult for a while, so those aren't spoilers because none of those things are going to happen. I'm sorry if that disappoints you. Anyway, thank you for your reads and reviews and follows as always. Thanks for bearing with me. I so appreciate it. Let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

Ever since his mum had gone back to work, exploring had become so much easier for Jamie. Some afternoons now he went to karate or piano lessons, but for three afternoons a week his great-grandfather came to the house to watch he and his siblings.

And sometimes Wilf liked to nap.

So, Jamie explored. He went back up to the eaves storage in search of that old watch and book that had always intrigued him. They were gone now, but somehow Jamie found himself drawn to the back garden.

There was something in the potting shed, Jamie was certain of it. There was a lock on it, a new one, he was certain. He had to get in. He looked around back to find one of the small windows had been knocked out. It was just big enough for him to slide through. He found a step stool and jumped until he reached the opening and crawled through, falling in a heap on the other side.

He looked up to see a big, blue box. He walked around it to discover there was a door. He saw it was cracked open.

Jamie pushed the door open and walked inside to see a huge room. What sort of magic was this? How long had it been in the potting shed?

Then there was a humming. It took him by surprise.

"Hello?," he said, unsure of who or what he was talking to.

The hum came back.

"I'm Jamie Smith. I live in the house."

There was a hum again. A door opened to a cupboard.

He walked inside. There was a shelf with four boxes on it. A light appeared and shone on the last one in the row.

He picked it up and held it. It was the same as when he had held his dad's fob watch. He opened it to see another fob watch.

Jamie opened it up.

* * *

Zoe sat in her bedroom, playing with her dolls. Jamie ran in.

"Zoe! You won't believe what's in the potting shed!"

"What?"

"A time machine! And it's telepathic!"

Zoe frowned. "What's telepathic?"

Jamie groaned. "If you're going to be like that..." He paused. "Oh, here."

He handed her a box with circles on it.

"What is it?," asked Zoe.

"Don't know, but it's got your name on it."

"No, it doesn't," said Zoe.

"It does in Gallifreyan."

"What's Gallifreyan?"

Just then, Greta wandered in.

"Gramps!," called Jamie. "Greta is starving! She can't keep waiting for one meal a day at six o'clock!"

"What are you doing?," asked Zoe.

"I'm talking to the dog."

Jamie ran out. Zoe stared at the box in her hands.

* * *

The Doctor found himself surprised, shocked even, at the way in which he was able to become engrossed in ordinary human life. He had always thought it would be some fresh hell, but it wasn't. Mind you, there were moments at which he found it intolerable: traffic, the Parents' Council, Sylvia. Of course he hadn't really found those things tolerable as John Smith. There were other things to make up for it, not to mention the odd, accidental trip in the TARDIS. Donna seemed to really be enjoying herself as she began the new job, making things even better at home. They had sent the twins off to their first day of proper school. There was something adorable about them in their little blazers, all eager to learn. He had even found he had more time to help Jack with his dyslexia. He had put all the boy's textbooks and required readings on audio files. Donna marvelled at when he had time to do it all. The answer was, of course, that he didn't sleep, but he feigned some excuse about having down time at work. That was partially true, the job of making money for the charity was so simple with psychic paper and the advantage of knowing which mutual funds and stocks might do what. They were rolling in money without noticeable detriment to the time lines.

Charlotte was still a challenge. He hadn't found any secret Time Lord way around that. Donna assured him that she was just being a pre teen. She would soon turn into a teenage girl and they could be difficult at the best of times.

The Doctor was actually quite familiar with that phenomenon.

Overall, life was very, very good.

It was Geoffrey and Sylvia's wedding anniversary. They were celebrating it with Geoffrey and the children. They were finishing up dinner, feasting on the anniversary cake.

"You let them have too much sugar, they'll be up all night," warned Sylvia as the children laughed in the other room.

"Thank you, Mum, I never put that together," said Donna. She looked at the Doctor. "Did you ever notice that?"

Wilf and Geoffrey smiled knowingly.

"How is the new job, love?," asked Geoff.

"Great," said Donna. "I actually got a little bit of a promotion. I'm head of the secretarial pool."

"That's great, sweetheart," said Wilf.

"You didn't tell me that," said the Doctor.

"It's not that big a deal," Donna insisted.

"Of course it is," said the Doctor.

"I hope it doesn't mean more time away from the children," said Sylvia. "I don't know how much longer Dad can be expected to sit for you."

"I don't mind it, sweetheart," said Wilf. "It's only a couple of afternoons a week and it gives me an excuse to close down early. Besides, I get to spend time with my great grandchildren."

"I appreciate it, Gramps. Really. No, Mum, it's not that much extra work."

"Children need someone at home."

Donna nodded. "Right."

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, Sylvia, could you just drop it for once?"

"Pardon?," asked Sylvia.

"Every bloody time we come over here, you have to needle into Donna about something. You've been doing it since I've known you, probably since she was born and you just won't let up! It's like being in the seventh circle of Hell and I should know, I've been there!"

"John," Donna said, totally shocked.

"What?," asked the Doctor, taking another bite of cake.

"You can't speak to me like that!," said Sylvia.

"I'm sorry, did I say something that wasn't true?" He looked around. "Anyone? No?"

They were stunned. John Smith had never had an unkind word for anyone. Just then, Jamie and Zoe chose the perfect moment to run in, looking adorable.

"What's going on?," asked Jamie.

"Nothing, sweetheart," said Donna, casting glances at the Doctor and her mother. "Did you enjoy the cake?"

"Yes," said Jamie. He looked at his grandparents. "You should have an anniversary every Sunday."

Geoff and Wilf laughed.

"Come here, my boy," said Geoff, holding his arms out.

Jamie went to his grandfather. Zoe sat on the Doctor's lap, curling up against him. Geoffrey hoisted the little boy on his lap.

"What are you feeding this boy?," Geoff asked.

"Too much cake," Sylvia muttered.

The Doctor was about to speak up again when he noticed Donna's hand on his wrist.

"Granddad, have you been to the doctor lately?," asked Jamie.

"Oh, no, I try to stay as far away from that lot as I can."

"You should go," said Jamie, sniffing. "Something doesn't seem right."

"Jamie, don't be rude," said Donna.

"Something's wrong!," Jamie insisted, looking tortured.

"It's alright, Donna. He can't help himself," said Geoff.

"You should see the GP. A man of your age?," said Sylvia. "You may as well be playing Russian Roulette."

Geoff groaned.

"You really ought to, Dad," said Donna. "I don't know what would happen if you were..." She shook her head, overcome by her own emotions. "Sorry."

"Well, if it'll give you peace of mind, Donna, I'll go," said Geoff. "I'll ring first thing."

"Thanks, Dad," said Donna.

"Oh, so you'll give her peace of mind, but not me?," asked Sylvia.. "I ought to give you a piece of my mind."

* * *

Later that week, the Doctor was surprised to find Donna at home early. Wilf was sitting next to her on the sofa, patting her on the back as she cried,

"Donna, what's wrong?," asked the Doctor. "Is it one of the children?" His mind raced. These little human bodies were so fragile, he wondered how they got through a day, let alone a lifetime.

"They're fine," said Donns.

"What's happened?" he sat down on her free side.

"It's Geoffrey," said Wilf. "He's got a tumor. They're doing tests. It may be nothing."

Donna stiffened. "But it was serious enough that the doctor dropped what he was doing to get Dad to hospital straightaway."

"I'm so sorry, Donna," said the Doctor. "I don't know what to say."

"Thank God for Jamie," said Donna.

"Jamie?," asked the Doctor.

"He was the one that thought something was wrong with Dad," said Donna.

The Doctor shook his head. "Surely, it's just a coincidence."

"Divine intervention, I call it," said Wilf.

"Yes, the Doctor said, nodding his head in agreement.

Something wasn't quite right.

* * *

Donna spent the evening on the phone with various relatives, disseminating information. Geoffrey had a small cell carcinoma in his right lung. The good news was that they had caught it early and it wouldn't have a chance to spread after an operation and chemotherapy. The Doctor went through the usual routine of doing dinner and helping the children with their homework. Finally, it was time to put the twins to bed.

"Will Granddad be alright?," asked Jamie.

"I think he will," said the Doctor. He sat on his bedside. "Jamie, what made you think something was wrong with your grandfather?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know."

"What's the atomic number of Zinc?"

"What's Zinc?"

"What's a hundred times pi divided by seven?"

"What?" The boy looked at him as if he was from outer space.

Oh. Right.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver.

"What's that, Daddy," Zoe asked from her bed.

"Oh, you know, it's a thing."

He scanned Jamie. Nothing. Just human. He put the sonic screwdriver away and kissed him good night, then went to Zoe and repeated the process.

"Good night," said the Doctor, shutting the door on them.

Oh, well. Just a coincidence then. The universe had been subject to stranger coincidences.

* * *

"How did you know Granddad was ill?," Zoe asked after the door was shut and she was certain her dad couldn't hear her talking.

"I smelled it," Jamie whispered back.

"How could you smell it?"

"I don't know." He paused. "Did you open your locket yet?"

"No," said Zoe. She pulled it out from under her pillow. She had kept it there since Jamie gave it to her. "I don't want to open it."

"What? Are you scared? Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat!"

The door flung open. Donna stood in the doorway silhouetted by the light of the hall.

"Oi! It's bedtime you two! What's all this noise I hear?"

"Nothing," said Jamie.

"Good," said Donna. She walked to him and kissed him, then went to Zoe. "Good night, my loves. I love you so much."

"Love you," said Jamie.

"I love you, Mummy," said Zoe.

Donna shut the door with a smile. Zoe stuffed the locket back under her pillow and tried not to think about it.

She certainly didn't hear it speaking to her.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes: I still do not own Doctor Who. I can't imagine why. I'll change it when I come to power. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews, I'm glad you were still interested after my three week hiatus and look! It hasn't been three weeks at all! So, in the last review, helikesitheymikey gave me an idea that actually worked quite well for me. I won't tell you which one because I don't want to ruin it, but I felt like I should give some credit. Anyway, thank you so much everyone. Let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

Jack Smith stared hopelessly at his homework.

He had listened to the audio file of the story for his English assignment. He had even liked it, now was the bad part, though, doing the worksheet. Writing about who was in the story, what they did and what he thought of it. His mum had been the one to help him with this, but she was working now. She said it was for her own sanity, whatever that meant. He knew she would help him when she got home or his dad would, but that also meant he would have less time to just have fun with them. So, he hated doing that. Yet it looked as if that would be his lot tonight. Great Grampy was great, but he had fallen asleep. He would have asked Charlotte, but she was well, his older sister. He would just as soon jump off a bridge.

Jack heard the doorbell ring. He assumed his Great Grampy would awaken to open it, but was surprised to hear his little brother's voice at the door. That couldn't be allowed! He rushed and ran to the door.

Jamie was standing there talking to Rose! The girl who had helped him at the Tube station. What was she doing here?!

"You're to stay away from us!," Jamie warned in a stern voice. "My dad wants nothing to do with you! That's why he left you!"

"But-"

"You're a stupid girl, Rose Tyler!"

Jamie slammed the door in Rose's face. Wilf stirred awake.

"What's that racket?," asked Wilf.

"Nothing," said Jamie.

Jack walked over to his younger brother. "Why did you do that to Rose?"

"Because she's a stupid, selfish brat," said Jamie.

"You don't even know her," said Jack.

"The TARDIS does."

"What's a TARDIS?"

"Time And Relative Dimensions in Space."

"What are you talking about?"

Jamie leaned in. "Can you keep a secret?"

* * *

Jack followed his little brother into the potting shed and saw the big, blue box.

"So? Dad's got a box?"

"She's not a box!" Jamie insisted. He opened the door. "Come on!"

Jack followed his brother inside, preparing himself for a tight fit. What he found made no sense at all.

"It's bigger on the inside," said Jack.

"It's another dimension," said Jamie.

Jack walked around, looking at the strange space in front of him. There were coral walls, metal grating for floors and the room hummed.

"What is this place?"

"I told you she is called the TARDIS," said Jamie.

"And what's that?"

"She's a time machine."

Jack shook his head. "You're just making that up."

"I am not!"

A cupboard door opened.

Jamie looked at Jack. "She wants you to get your box."

"My box? How can I have a box here?"

Jack walked inside the cupboard A light shone down on a wooden box. It was the second of two on a shelf.

He picked it up and opened it to see an old fob watch. He picked it up and walked outside to where Jamie waited.

"You have to open it," said Jamie. "Then you have to keep it with you to act as a perception filter. At least for now, until everyone's sorted out."

Jack shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"This is Dad's time machine. He's an alien."

"No, he's not."

The ship groaned.

"She says if you don't believe that, you should open the watch."

Jack opened the watch.

* * *

It was morning. The kids weren't quite down to the breakfast table yet, so it was just the Doctor and Donna. He looked at her as she groaned at her mobile.

"Not him again," she said.

"Not who?," asked the Doctor.

She smiled ruefully. "So, that's me caught then."

"Caught at what?"

She sighed. "There's this bloke at work, head of human resources, Lance, he's called. He will not stop hassling me. Ever since I wouldn't take his bloody cup of coffee."

"You love coffee."

Donna looked startled as if that was some sort of revelation. "Well, I'm trying to cut back."

"You didn't tell me that."

"Well, I am now. Anyway, he keeps trying to give me bloody coffees and I keep saying 'no.' God, I know what he wants and I'm a married woman, for pity's sake. The creep won't stop and now he's mad because I've told the whole office about him and there isn't a woman in there who will give him the time of day now. I ought to take him in front of a bloody tribunal."

"Shall I have a talk with him?," asked the Doctor.

Donna laughed. "That's all I need, my husband coming in to straighten the boys out. I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"Still, Donna, if he's ringing you at home-"

"I've got it, John, seriously. I'm a big girl, I've been looking after myself for a while now."

"I know," said the Doctor. "I like looking after you, though."

She smiled. "I know you do."

The Doctor looked. There were tears in her eyes. "Donna, are you alright?"

"Of course I am. I'm just being silly. Women's problems."

"Oh," said the Doctor nodding. John Smith had never had a damn clue about "women's problems." The Doctor had it down to a science. Funny, by his estimations, she wasn't due to go completely off the rails for another two weeks, He looked up to see the boys enterng. "Jack-jackety-jacks! James-james-" He stopped and frowned. "Never mind that. Failed attempt. I'm going to think up a good one. Do you mind changing names?"

"John..." said Donna.

"Oh, come on. That could be fun if everyone picked their own names."

"What would yours be?," asked Jamie.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer then stopped. "Uh, never mind."

The boys sat at the table.

"How did your homework go?," asked Donna. "I'm so sorry that I didn't get a chance to look over it last night."

"It's fine, Mum," said Jack.

"Do you want me to have a look at it now, sweetheart?"

Jack shrugged and retrieved the papers from his knapsack. Donna took them with her usual smile. She always tried to stay smiling while she helped the children with their work. She told the Doctor that she figured that the one person who always ought to have patience for them should be their mum, so he was very surprised when she frowned.

"What's wrong, Mum?," asked Jack.

"Jack, this is perfect." She handed the papers to the Doctor. "Have a look at these!"

The Doctor took them as Zoe sat down beside him. They were perfect, there were no transversed letters or confused words. The punctuation was perfect. The sentence structure was a bit more complex than what Jack should have been capable of. "Did your grandfather help you?"

"No," said Jack.

This was strange. First, Jamie. Now Jack's suddenly disappeared dyslexia.

Just then, Charlotte stalked in.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said Donna.

"What's good about it?," she asked taking a seat.

"That's no way to start the day," said the Doctor.

"How should I start it? Lola, Sally and Ava kicked me out of the group."

"For the talent show?," asked the Doctor.

"Those little brats," said Donna.

"You could always enter on your own," said John.

"Miss Cooper already entered me," she grumbled.

"Good for you," said Donna. "That'll show them. What are you going to do?"

Charlotte looked up at her mother in confusion. "Sing."

"Oh," said Donna, looking at the Doctor with eyes that betrayed her panic, even as she forced a smile on her face.

Charlotte couldn't sing. That girl. Lola, had made it to the third round of Britain's Got Talent. It was really no surprise if Charlotte had been dropped from a singing group.

"Well," said Donna, "we'll be watching."

* * *

The Doctor drove the kids to school. Then as he began his commute across town, he got to thinking about Donna and the cup of coffee. He wasn't jealous. Time Lords didn't get jealous and besides that, Donna was not a cheater. It just wasn't in her.

Why did Lance want her to have that cup of coffee so badly?

So, he called the office and let them know he wouldn't be in today. Then he headed over to Donna's office at H.C. Clements, It finally occurred to him that he had no idea what H.C. Clements did, so he looked it up. Government contracts, top secret ones, so that could only mean UNIT.

He used the psychic paper to get inside and had to carefully evade Donna as he spotted her going around on the main floor. He found Lance's office easily enough. He walked in.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! Mnd telling me why you've been harassing my wife?"

Lance looked at him skeptically from his desk. "Who's your wife?"

"Donna's my wife."

"And you're called the Doctor?"

Right. Failure there.

"Look, I'll leave her alone, I swear. Just don't beat me up."

The Doctor frowned. "What did you want her to drink the coffee for?"

"Nothing!"

The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver.

"What's that thing?," shouted Lance.

"Well, obviously, you would want Donna to drink the coffee only if there was something in it."

"No, I just thought she was... hot."

The Doctor glared at him. "She was married and she told you 'no' and you kept after her. You just denied there was something in it and now I think whatever it is must be in here... Aha!" He opened a desk drawer and saw a vile of glowing particles suspended in water. He turned to Lance. "Where did you get these?"

The Doctor forced Lance to show him where. He followed him all the way down to a secrey basement down a long tunnel and into a lab with all kinds of "Top Secret" badging on it.

In there were lots of Huon particles, suspended in giant tanks. He turned to Lance.

"What do you need the Huon particles for?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me? You had better start talking. These particles are deadly and you wanted to put them in my wife. Why?!"

Suddenly, one of the walls started moving up and the Doctor found himself face to face with...

"You're one of the Racnoss."

"Empress of the Racnoss."

"You shouldn't even exist!"

The Empress turned to Lance. "Who is he?"

"Donna's husband."

"Who is Donna?"

"The one I was gonna give the Huon particles to."

The Doctor looked down at the giant hole in the floor. "How far down are you drilling? What for?"

"A curious little spouse," said the Empress.

"You wanted to eat my wife? Okay, what's the point in that? What do you need a meal laced with Huon particles for? Why?"

The Empress smiled menacingly.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question," said the Doctor.

"My children will be ever so hungry when they awaken."

"They're down there?," the Doctor said incredulously, looking at the hole. "Feed them the Huon particles, bring them to life, then what? Eat the Earth?"

"Such a tasty planet."

"Right," said the Doctor. "That's not going to work for me. See, I like it here. I live here. Disney World is here. There are cakes with edible ball bearings. Let me help you. We'll find a way to get your children out and find you a planet where you can coexist peacefully."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, you puny little human?"

"I'm not human."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a Time Lord."

The Empress screamed. "They murdered the Racnoss!"

The Doctor noticed Lance fleeing. He would find him later. "Empress, this is your last chance."

The Empress didn't seem to be listening.

"Right," said the Doctor. "Excuse me then."

He ran out, watching Lance run back up the tunnel. He would deal with him later.

There had to be a UNIT computer in here somewhere. He found a panel and accessed it. UNIT had the room rigged to explode if need be. That figured. Typical UNIT overkill. Well, there was a definite need. First, he set off the alarms at the neighboring buildings and then set off the explosives, causing the room to flood. He only had a few minutes to get out of there himself. He took one of the tunnels up and climbed up into the dry Thames river bed. He climbed up over the banks and into the plaze of the office complex where the assembled workers had gathered for the evacuation.

"John!"

He froze, turning to see Donna running towards him.

"John, what on Earth happened to you?"

The Doctor realized he was completely drenched and partly covered in the muck from the river.

"Right, well, I was coming to take you to lunch-"

"It's ten in the morning!"

"Yes, that's what made it a surprise. Anyway, then the building flooded a bit."

"Oh, my God!," Donna shouted. She slapped him on the arm, causing some water to fly out of his sleep. "You could have been killed!"

"Yeah, well, I should be going."

"Right," said Donna, nodding. "Get changed before you catch your death. I'll meet you at home."

* * *

The Doctor managed to beat Donna home, he was not quite sure how. He ran into the garden first and the potting shed. He used the TARDIS scanners to find out there was a Racnoss ship in the orbit of the Earth, but there was no one on board. The Empress of the Racnoss hadn't made it back to her ship.

He had done it again. Genocide. There was no choice.

There never was.

* * *

The Brigadier was just getting some paperwork done when there was a knock at his office door. Jack Harkness appeared.

"Did you know someone just drained the Thames?," said Jack.

"What?"

"Also, our satellites are picking up an alien ship in orbit."

The Brigadier sighed and took out his flask.

* * *

That night, the Doctor sat with the rest of the family watching telly, searching for something besides the news about the Thames draining.

There was once absence from the family gathering and that was Charlotte, Yet her presence was felt or rather heard all the way from her room at the top floor.

"How long is she going to do that?," asked Zoe.

"Well, she's practicing," said the Doctor. "So, until she gets it right."

"Forever," groaned Jamie.

"Oi!," said Donna. "That's unkind!"

John looked at Donna woefully. "Should we tell her?," he whispered.

"Oh, that'll be just great," said Donna. "Her parents telling her she can't sing. I hope you like paying for therapy."

"Well, we can't let her get up there in front of everyone," said the Doctor.

"There are worse tragedies in life than a subpar performance at a school talent show," said Donna.

The Doctor looked back at Jack, who appeared to be hanging on every word.

* * *

That night after everyone had gone to bed, Jack went back out to the potting shed. He went inside the TARDIS.

"Hello," he said. "Uh, how have you been?"

The ship hummed warmly.

"That's good. Look, the watch helped me a lot and my sister, Charlotte, she's got this talent show coming up and she's awful."

He could have sworn the ship laughed.

"I was thinking maybe I could take her box and it would help her."

The ship hummed her approval. The cupboard door opened again and Jack walked to the shelf still holding on to its last box. He took it and walked out.

"Thanks," said Jack. "Do you need anything from the house? Food or something?"

The ship replied that all she needed was the company of her Time Lords.

"Okay," said Jack. "I'll try to visit tomorrow after school."

The TARDIS hummed with pleasure. Jack smiled back. "Good night."

He walked back into the back garden feeling the chill of the autumn night's air and looked at the stars. All the wonderful places there would be,

Then he saw a light crashing in the distance and hurried inside.

* * *

Jack knocked on Charlotte's door.

"What?," she spat.

He held out the box. "Here. This is for you. It'll help you with your competition, like mine helped me with my reading. You just can't let Dad know."

Charlotte took the box. "Why not?"

"Jack Smith!," they heard Donna shout. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Gotta go," said Jack, going back down the stairs.

Charlotte shut the door and sat on her bed. She looked at the box and the strange circles on it. She traced her fingers over them and opened the box. Inside, there was a locket.

She opened it.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. Now, I know what you're thinking: that crazy girl says she'll update and won't. My excuse is that I have spent most of this week in hospital waiting rooms or at work which is crazy. Anyway, sorry. I really ought to have a new update of this story soon since I had a lot of time to think about it in hospital waiting rooms. Let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

Rose Tyler had been struggling with her plan to help the Doctor.

First, it had really gotten harder to find when the woman, Donna, was at home. The times she was at home, Rose had to work. She would have asked Mickey or her mother for help, but she had the most peculiar feeling that it wasn't a good idea. So, on her days off, she made the trek back up to Ealing, to look around the house and see if anyone was home.

Then that was the trouble if someone was home. She happened to be walking by when the Waitrose delivery boy was there. Donna was talking in the various crates and bags. It looked like enough to feed an army. Rose was just passing by as Donna spotted her.

"You!," she spat. "what the hell are you doing here?!"

"Mrs. Smith?," the boy asked.

"Not you, Thomas. You!," she said, pointing at Rose. "You psychotic little stalker!"

Rose approached. "I have something to tell you."

"I'll have the police on you! I will!"

Rose then saw the little blonde girl from the restaurant siding up to Donna in the doorway. She had on pink pajamas and was holding a Teddy bear.

"Mummy?"

Donna looked down at her. "Go back to bed, sweetheart. You shouldn't be up."

"I was hungry."

"Mummy will get you something to eat. You need your rest." She looked back up at Rose with sharp eyes. "You have thirty seconds to get off my property."

She looked serious. Very serious. A million times scarier than her mum and she wasn't backing down.

Rose backed away.

* * *

Zoe Smith was not having a fun day.

She had woken up in the middle of the night when her ear felt like it was being stabbed on the inside. She had gone crying to her parents who told her she had a fever. This was particularly upsetting because she would be missing the excursion to the zoo at school planned for that day. Her mum was home with her, of course. She hadn't been back to work since the day that the river drained and damaged her office, but she had been helping with Granddad. He was sick as well.

"Zoe!," said the Doctor as he entered the room. "Zo-Zo-Zoe!"

"Is that my medicine?," asked Zoe, looking at what the Doctor held in his hand.

"Yes, it is," said the Doctor sitting next to her.

"Does it taste yucky?"

"No, it's banana flavored." He pulled out what looked like a gummi. "Here, just chew that. You'll be feeling much better."

Zoe took it and chewed. It did taste like bananas. Her medicine never tasted this good.

"So, how are we holding up?," he asked.

"I wanted to go to the zoo."

"I know. Zoe at the zoo. We'll go some other time. I'll show you all sorts of animals."

Donna entered with a bowl of soup. "Back from the druggist's already?"

"Yup," said the Doctor, clearing room for the tray.

"Sit up, sweetheart," said Donna as she placed the tray on the bed.

"She wanted to go to the zoo," said the Doctor.

"There will be other times, sweetheart."

They heard a siren.

"What's that?," asked Zoe.

"Just something happening in the park," said Donna.

"Really?," asked the Doctor. He looked out the window and across the road to where lots of official vehicles were driving in.

"You didn't notice?," asked Donna. "They've been there all morning."

"Is it about the scarecrows?," asked Zoe.

"Scarecrows?," asked the Doctor. "What scarecrows?"

Donna shook her head. "One of the council's schemes, some sort of urban art nonsense, they put scarecrows up all over the park. Something about an urban pastoral concept."

"I don't like them," said Zoe.

Donna looked at the Doctor. "She saw them on the way to the doctor's. She thought they were scary."

"Nothing to be frightened of, Zoe," said the Doctor. "They're just straw."

"Then why are they called scarecrows?"

"Because they're for scaring crows, not little girls," said the Doctor giving her a peck on the forehead. He looked out the window as another black Land Rover made its way into the park. "I think I'll take Greta for a walk."

* * *

The Doctor enlisted the help of Greta by putting her on a lead and taking her for a walk. Still, as far as companions went she wasn't bad. He had tried explaining about K9 to her, but Greta seemed nonplussed by the whole robot dog concept.

The park was swarming with official people trying not to look official. UNIT. He could smell it. Something was going on out here. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Jack over beyond a taped line directing people. And who was among them but Mickey! How long had that been going on?

"Jack!," he called, giving a goofy grin and wave.

Jack and Mickey turned and froze.

"Uh, John," said Jack approaching him. "What are you doing here?"

He motioned at the lead and Greta. "What do you think?"

"Oh, right," said Jack. "Well, you know, just an envronmental spill."

The Doctor kept smiling. "Really? Nothing dangerous I hope?"

"No, just some sewage that has to be dealt with."

"I didn't think that was your sort of thing, Jack."

"You know me. I've never been able to say no," he said with his trademark smile.

"I bet. So, are you coming to the talent show tomorrow?"

"Looking forward to it," said Jack. "Uh, what are you doing home today?"

"Oh. Zoe's ill."

"That's too bad."

"Missed the school excursion to the zoo."

"That's rotten. Tell you what, tell her Cousin Jack will take her as soon as she's feeling better. All the souvenirs and ice cream she can stand."

"I think she'll like that," said the Doctor.

"Captain!," called Mickey.

"Oh, gotta go, John," said Jack.

"Bye!," said the Doctor.

He walked back to the house with Greta.

"Was I really coming off as a massive idiot when I was human?," the Doctor asked Greta.

Greta gave a low bark of confirmation.

"Oi!," said the Doctor. "That's quite enough cheek."

Greta barked at one of the scarecrows.

"Not you, too," he moaned.

Greta barked again.

The Doctor shook his head. "It couldn't have moved, It must have just been the breeze."

Greta barked yet again.

"You know, I'm beginning to question why I chose you from the litter."

Greta gave a low bark, a sort of gruff scoff,

"Fine, Donna chose you, but I helped."

* * *

Zoe was laying in her bed and staring at the locket. Donna came in.

"Feel any better, sweetheart?," asked Donna, sitting on the side of the bed.

"I guess," said Zoe.

"What's this?," asked Donna, taking the locket in her hand. She squinted at it, trying to get a better look.

"Jamie gave it to me," said Zoe. "He said it was mine."

"Huh. Wonder where he got it."

"He wants me to open it," said Zoe.

"Well, it's broken," said Donna. She handed it back to Zoe. "Would you be very upset if Mummy left the house for a bit?"

"Where are you going?"

"I promised I would meet someone. Do you mind? I won't go if you don't want me to."

"I don't mind" said Zoe.

"Good girl," said Donna, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I'm going to get you something special while I'm out."

"What?"

Donna smiled as she stood. "Well, it will be more special if it's a surprise."

"Okay."

* * *

Donna went downstairs. The Doctor was looking out the window of the sitting room.

"Find out what was going on at the park?," asked Donna.

"Not so much," said the Doctor. "I might need to have another look."

"Well, Sherlock, do you think you can put it off? I've got some errands to run and someone has got to stay with Zoe."

"Errands?"

"Yes. Errands," said Donna. "I've got to stop by the shops and I promised my dad I'd drop in. He's just had another round of chemo today. I'll get Charlotte after the talent show rehearsal. Jack and Jamie are getting a ride home with Ollie's mum. Can you start dinner?"

"Sure," said the Doctor.

* * *

UNIT had set up shop in a massive black truck outfitted with all the latest computers and scanners which were doing them absolutely no good in their search for whatever had fallen from the sky the night before.

"I don't get it," said Jack, staring at Mickey's screen. "We should be in the middle of an energy field, but there's nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Didn't Hector find anything?," asked Mickey.

Jack checked his watch. "Still not back. Probably went to call his girlfriend again."

Just then, Hector came in, looking glassy-eyed.

"What took you so long?," asked Jack.

"Sorry, sir." He took a huge sniff.

"What's wrong with you?," asked Mickey.

"Nothing, sir."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, let's fear the day we have to call Mickey Mouse here 'sir.'"

"Oi, Captain Cheesecake!"

"Cool it. Come back, outside. We'll have another look."

Jack and Mickey left. Hector went over to the computer and started typing quickly at the computer. All the screens showed "Classified."

He tilted his head back. "Family of mine, I cannot find the Time Lord's location on these primitive computers. We will have to sniff him out."

* * *

Rose was passing by the park again. She had just gotten off work and thought maybe she would see if she could reason with the woman. Or maybe the Doctor would be there and she could talk to him properly. She hated passing by the park, though, with all these scarecrows. She would have sworn one of them had just moved.

She heard Mickey's voice. "All I'm saying is at least I'm not a walking, talking Action Man!"

Rose turned. He was walking in her direction. She hid behind a tree. Mickey was walking with Jack! Jack was alive! Wouldn't he have gone looking for the Doctor as well?

Rose decided it was no coincidence that they were so close to this park. They knew about the Doctor as well. How else to explain all the official looking vehicles in the park? And why she had asked about the Doctor before and couldn't remember it. She would have asked Mickey for help. She bet he knew all about what was going on.

"The Doctor," she said aloud to herself, watching Jack and Mickey walk around and scan various objects. "You knew about the Doctor all this time."

"May I help you, Miss?"

Rose turned to see Hector's Cheshire grin.

"Uh, no, I was just going," said Rose.

Rose stormed out of the park. She was too mad to go looking for the Doctor today and she could do without the creepy scarecrows.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who or anything owned by Disney. Two things: the formatting is a bit wonky, I don't know how to fix it, so, sorry. Second, I don't know if you have fire escapes on apartment buildings in England, so if there's not, forgive me and pretend there is. I mean, you must get out in a fire somehow. Thanks for the reads and reviews and follows. I'm so glad you like it. Anyway, let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

The next evening the Doctor sat with Zoe in her room. He scanned her with the sonic screwdriver.

"What is that thing, Daddy?"

"It's just a thing. A silly Daddy thing." He put it back in his pocket. "How do you feel?"

"Tired."

"Right, the treatment has that effect."

"Can't I go with you?"

"You ought to stay in bed, Your Great Grampy is coming to sit with you."

"Charlotte's going to sing, though."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, I know."

"Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am."

"You don't look excited."

"Oh, my perceptive little Zoe."

"Will Mummy kiss me before you go?"

"Of course she will. I'll go see to it," said the Doctor.

* * *

The Doctor walked back over to the bedroom where Donna was getting ready. She was sitting on the bed, talking on the phone.

"I see. What happens now?"

The Doctor waited behind the door.

"Well, can't I get a second opinion?"

The Doctor listened as Donna groaned.

"Well, than you, you've been a lot of bloody help. You must be so glad you spent all those years in medical school to say you don't bloody know."

Donna hung up the phone. The Doctor walked in. "Donna? What's going on?"

Donna looked up. She seemed as if she had been crying. "Uh, nothing."

"It sounded like you were talking to a doctor. Was it about your dad?"

"Well..."

Things finally started clicking for the Doctor. "Donna, what's going on?"

"I'm pregnant," she said.

"Pregnant? That's impossible." Human? Time Lord? Pregnant? Impossible. Well, he had been told it was impossible, though he had asked it an awfully long ago and that particular teacher at the Academy had never liked him. There were other sources, but he supposed dormitory discussions were probably not reliable.

He was snapped out of his flashback as Donna narrowed her eyes at him. "How is that impossible?"

"I, uh..." He decided to change tracks. "What's going on?"

"I went to the doctor to be sure and she heard a double heartbeat. Well, they say it's a double heartbeat or every piece of equipment in Greater London is suddenly malfunctioning. They don't know what it means. I went to see a specialist and he wants to refer it to some colleague in America."

She kept going on. She had been worried sick. It was sending the Doctor on one massive guilt trip.

"Why didn't you tell me before?," the Doctor asked interrupting. her.

Donna shook her head. "It's just been so awful with my dad and all. I didn't want to worry anyone."

"You could have worried me."

She smiled ruefully. He took a deep breath.

The jig was up. He would have to come clean. He couldn't worry Donna. He would have to tell her who and what he was. On the bright side, he could break it to her that their baby was fine and they would have the first Time Lord Human hybrid in all of recorded history. On the not so bright side, she was going to scream at him.

And slap him.

"Donna, I have something to tell you," said the Doctor.

"Yes?"

The doorbell rang.

"Great Grampy is here!," shouted Jamie,

"We better go," said Donna. "Charlotte has to be there early. It'll be easier to talk after the kids are asleep anyway."

The Doctor nodded. He only had a few hours until it was all over. Until his ordinary human life came to an end.

* * *

"What time do you call this?," Jackie asked Rose.

Rose groaned and dropped her bag on the floor. She flopped down on the chair.

"They've got you working all hours there," said Jackie. "I don't like you on the tube early in the morning and late at night when the crazies are out."

Rose groaned again. "Mum, I fought the Daleks, I can ride the tube by myself."

"Well, the Doctor's not going to come save you from some serial rapist."

Rose rolled her eyes again. She heard footsteps outside the flat.

"What's that?," asked Jackie.

"Enid's probably just having another party."

"I ought to file a formal complaint to the council. That's three times just this week!"

There was a banging on the door. Jackie was about to get it when a gang of scarecrows burst in, taking it off its' hinges.

Jackie screamed. "Get out! I'll call the police!"

Rose started thinking. The park. The weird energy, whatever Mickey was doing there and these scarecrows! They had to be the same.

"Mum, they can't hear you. They're scarecrows. Proper scarecrows!"

"Don't be daft!," said Jackie as she and Rose backed up.

Rose grabbed a broom, set on the wall. She stabbed at the lead scarecrow with it and it went straight through. Jackie shrieked.

"Out the fire escape!"

They hurried outside onto the fire escape. Rose slammed the window shut catching one of the scarecrow's hands in it.

She turned to her mother. "We have to find the Doctor."

Jackie just shook her head.

"Mum! I know! I know Mickey knows where he is, I bet you know something as well! Those things were by his house, so I bet they're coming for him! We have to help him!"

* * *

Wilf woke up to a banging on the door. "Alright, alright, keep your shirt on-"

The door burst open. A woman in running clothes entered followed by a line of scarecrows. She knocked Wilf down and she fell to the ground.

Greta began barking. Zoe looked out her window to see the awful scarecrows filing in the front door. She heard footsteps on the stairs. She took the locket from under her pillow and grabbed Greta. She looked around and saw no option but to hide in the wardrobe. She grabbed Greta and shut the door behind them.

"It's okay, girl," Zoe whispered. She put the locket over the dog's neck. "There. Jamie says that protects you."

Zoe trembled. What had they done to Great Grampy? Mummy and Daddy were still at the talent show. How long would they be there? She wished she had thought to get the phone, but it was all the way in Mummy and Daddy's bedroom.

The wardrobe door flung open. Zoe screamed as she saw the scarecrows. They grabbed her and Greta tried to bite at their legs, but she only got straw. Zoe freed one of her arms to shut the door on Greta so the scarecrows wouldn't hurt her for attacking them, They turned her to face a teenage girl with pale makeup and blacklips. She had one of those nose rings Gran hated something awful and wore all black.

She closed her eyes and spoke. "Family of Mine, I have John Smith's daughter."

* * *

Sarah Jane walked in to the school auditorium and saw Jack had already saved her a seat. The auditorium was filling with excited parents and some of the dads had set up their cameras in the back.

"Well, I'm surprised you got away," she remarked. "What with that falling object in the park."

Jack scoffed. "More like falling goose chase. I had a close call when John saw me there."

"And the missing people?," asked Sarah Jane. "The Brigadier told me. One mum who was out running, an old man bird watching and a teenage girl?"

Jack shook his head. "The woman is the most likely to actually be missing. The family of the elderly gentleman says he's been having trouble remembering where he is lately. The teenage girl runs away once a week according to her mother. We still haven't found anything."

"Oh, look who it is!," said Sarah Jane as the Doctor entered with Donna and the boys.

They all exchanged greetings.

"Are you alright, John?," asked Sarah Jane with a quizzical look.

"I'm always alright," said the Doctor, taking his seat.

Sarah Jane and Jack exchanged concerned looks then sat. The show began with a speech from the headmistress and the first acts. The first was some sort of magic show, another girl attempted a tumbling routine. Then came Lola's group. They blew everyone out of the water and got a standing ovation for their Spice Girls Kylie Minogue medley.

Donna looked at the Doctor. "I hate that bloody Lola and her mum. We never should have let Charlotte spend time with her."

The Doctor nodded.

"John, are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

She put his hand over his. "I know. I'm worried as well, but we have to make this a nice night for Charlotte since, well, you know. You've heard her."

The Doctor nodded. Not much time left now.

* * *

"This one's his!," said Rose, running up the path of the Smith house.

Jackie's jaw droped. "Where did he get the money? Must be half a million quid at least!"

Rose knocked frantically on the door. "Hello! Open up! Doctor! Please! I'm sorry! Just open up!"

Jackie looked in the window. "Oh, my God! There's an old man laying on the floor!"

Rose tried the handle and found it was unlocked. She and Jackie rushed in.

"Hello?," said Rose, rushing to Wilf's side. "Are you okay?"

Wilf groaned. Jackie looked at Rose. They heard barking.

"They have a dog," said Rose.

"How do you know they have a dog?," asked Jackie. "Have you been stalking him?!"

"Not now, Mum," said Rose. "Just help him!"

She jumped up and made for the stairs.

"And where do you think you're going?," asked Jackie.

"They've got kids!"

Rose ran upstairs and followed the barking to a cupboard in a kids' room on the second floor. She opened it and found Greta. The dog ran out with a locket around her neck.

Rose looked around. The room had been ransacked. The beds overturned, the stuffed animals laying in heaps on the floor.

"They took her," said Rose. She looked at Greta. "They took her, yeah? Oh, my God, I'm talking to a dog. I've got to get out more."

Greta barked with contempt.

* * *

After an interminable parade of little girls dancing to "Crazy In Love" the headmistress finally came on the stage to introduce the act that Doctor was most interested in. "Our next performance is from another of our Year Four Girls, performing solo, Miss Charlotte Smith!'

Donna and the boys cheered. Jack even added in a whistle among the audience's light applause. Charlotte came on stage.

The Doctor remembered when she was born. How tiny she seemed. How taken aback John had been, he had been. Donna reached over and grabbed his hand, interlacing her fingers with his as she held her breath.

_"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl The girl who has everything?"_

It was perfect. It was actually perfect. Donna looked at him in shock.

_"Look at this trove, treasures untold, How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you'd think... Sure, she's got everything..."_

"I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty, I've got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty. But who cares? no big deal..." 

It wasn't merely a good cover, though. It was pitch perfect. She was actually singing it the way Ariel had sung it in the film as she had watched probably a thousand times when she was little. It wasn't lip syncing- though that would have been clever and he could hardly blame her if she had- he couldn't hear any electronic interference.

"_I want more, I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see wanna see 'em dancing._  
_Walking around on those_, w_hat do you call 'em? Oh, feet._

"_Flipping your fins you don't get too far. Legs are required for jumping, dancing, strolling along down a_- _What's that word again?_ _Street."_

_"Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun, wandering free, wish I could be part of that world."_

The Doctor finally zeroed in on something.

When had Charlotte gotten that locket?

_"What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand?"_

He took the brainy specs out of his jacket and looked.

That wasn't just a locket. That was a Time Lord locket. How had she gotten that?

_"Bet ya on land, they understand, bet they don't reprimand their daughters, bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand and ready to know what the people know."_

The Doctor's question was answered when he turned to see Jamie, absentmindedly turning a fob watch over in his hands. Jamie looked up to meet his father's eyes and had the look of someone that had been completely found out.

_"Ask 'em my questions, And get some answers,What's a fire and why does it- what's the word? Burn, when's it my turn? Wouldn't I love love, To explore that shore up above? Out of the sea. Wish I could be part of that world."_

The audience erupted into thunderous applause. Donna grinned excitedly at the Doctor.

The Doctor leaned down to Jamie. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Don't do that, Jamie." The Doctor looked over at Jack, who had been watching his father and brother's interaction. "Do you know about this as well?"

"I needed it for school," Jack the younger answered with complete justification.

Charlotte grinned. She waved at her parents and then her expression turned frightened. An old man with binoculars headed towards her followed by a gang of scarecrows and Hector. He shot into the roof with a space aged gun causing everyone to scream and scatter. The dads' video cameras clattered into a broken heap in the rush to leave.

The Doctor was frozen as the men walked up to Charlotte whose eyes were wide with terror.

"Very good, Doctor!," said Hector.

"Oh, my God," said Sarah Jane.

Hector grabbed Charlotte by the neck. Donna screamed and tried to head forward as the Doctor held her back. He shoved Jack the younger and Jamie into her arms. "Keep the watches on you," he whispered.

"Have you enjoyed being human? Has it taught you wonderful things? Has it made you richer, wiser? What it's like to have the love of family?"

Jack stepped forward. "Look, guys, there's been some kind of mix up. I don't know who this Doctor is-"

"No, there hasn't," said the Doctor.

Jack turned. "What?"

The Doctor looked at Donna. "I'm sorry."

Donna shook her head. "What do you mean you're sorry?"

The Doctor turned back to Hector. "What do you want?"

"The life of a Time Lord!"

"And her? You'll let her go?"

"Daddy..." Charlotte sobbed.

"It's alright," said the Doctor, pushing past Jack, who was still stunned. "There were four of you."

"Mother of Mine and Sister of Mine followed your scent elsewhere."

The Doctor's hearts sank, but he tried not to show it. "How did you find me here? How are you still living?"

"Our vortex manipulator malfunctioned. We've only been looking for you a day, but you were busy breeding," he said with a sickly smile aimed at Donna and the children.

"They can't help you," said the Doctor."They're just human. She's just a little girl. Let her go with her mother."

"And you'll come with us?"

"You let the others go." He stepped forward. "Do we have a deal?"

"Doctor, what are you doing?," asked Jack.

"Just get everyone out, Jack. Get Donna out."

The rest of the room started rushing out at the opportunity. Jack the elder looked to Sarah Jane who moved to grab Donna.

"I'm not leaving her!," said Donna.

"We have to go now," said Sarah Jane. She dragged Donna out with the boys' help. Donna was a match for Sarah Jane, but she wasn't going to turn on her own children. Once they were gone, the Doctor looked back at Jack who still had his gun pointed at Hector. The Doctor jumped on the stage.

"So, have we got a deal?," asked the Doctor. He shook his head. "You don't want her. She's just human."

He caught Charlotte's hurt expression and tried to ignore it.

"Take her," said Hector, shoving her forward by the chain of the locket. The chain snapped and the locket fell to the floor.

"You lied to us," said Hector.

"There are more Time Lords, Son of Mine," said the old man.

The Doctor moved to quickly shove Charlotte to the side. He grabbed at the locket as Jack shot at Hector and the old man. The Doctor took Charlotte's hand and they jumped off the stage, running out of the auditorium with Jack a little behind.

"How long have you known?!," Jack yelled as they ran through the halls.

"The summer," said the Doctor.

"Known what?!," asked Charlotte. "And what did he mean Time Lords?!"

"Oh, I am sorry, Charlotte," said the Doctor.

"How long have they been Time Lords?!," Jack asked.

"I don't know. Somehow the fob watches have been protecting them."

"A watch?!," Jack spat. "What the hell does a watch have to do with it?"

The Doctor groaned. "I really wish you all would have watched the video!"

There was no time to explain more as they arrived at the car park. UNIT had scrambled along with police and ambulances. The Doctor and Jack ran outside. Donna and Sarah Jane had the boys packed in the Land Rover. The Doctor put Charlotte in.

"What the hell is going on?!," said Donna.

"We don't have time for this, Donna," said the Doctor. "There are two more of them out there. We have to go home. Now."

"I'm not shifting until you give me an explanation!"

"I am a Time Lord, Donna! They want my life force to keep them living for thousands of years so they can reign bloodshed upon the universe and we have to go home to make sure they haven't taken Zoe!"

Donna froze.

"Get in the damn car," said Jack, shoving them both towards the door. He took the keys from the Doctor. "I'll drive!"

"What do you mean you're a Time Lord?! What is that?!," screamed Charlotte. She looked up at Sarah Jane. "What is that?"

Sarah Jane sighed. "He's an alien."

"An alien? Oh, my God, I knew it all along." She looked back at Jack and Sarah Jane. "Are you aliens. too?"

"No, but I used to travel with your father."

"And you?," Donna said accusingly at Jack.

"I'm just immortal," said Jack. "And from the future and by the way, Doc, thanks for leaving me stranded in the year 200,000!"

"You left Cousin Jack?," asked Jamie.

"It's a long story!," said the Doctor.

"Oh, I think we had better start hearing some long stories, sunshine!," shouted Donna.

"Yes," said Sarah Jane, "like who were those creatures?"

"The Family of Blood. They're energy beings. They only live for three months, they need a Time Lord to extend their life span, otherwise they'll just die, like Mayflies, which is good actually because all they do is kill. I ran into them when I was on my own and had to turn human in order to hide from them."

"What?!," spat Donna.

The Doctor turned back to look at her. "I left instructions. After three months, Sarah Jane was supposed to open the watch to bring me back and it ended up being over ten years."

"What watch?," asked Sarah Jane. "You didn't mention a watch!"

"It was in the video!," growled the Doctor.

"There was no video!," Sarah Jane shouted back.

Jamie pulled his out of his pocket. "Like this, Auntie."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Yes, how did you get that?"

"The TARDIS gave it to me."

He looked at the children. "Oh, did she? Of course she did! I could have sworn I left the Chameleon Arch on the sterile setting, I thought it was my mistake, but now I see! She is unbelievable!"

Jack grinned. "Glad to see the Old Girl is bossing you around." He lost the grin. "Wait! We have the TARDIS at UNIT!"

"No, you have a blue box that looks like the TARDIS at UNIT."

"What the hell are you all talking about?!," Donna screamed.

The Doctor turned back to Donna. "The reason your doctor can't make anything of your sonogram is because that baby is not entirely human."

"Oh, my God," said Donna, taking her head in her hands. "So, what? You just flew down from your space ship and picked me to populate your species or something?"

"No! I thought I was John Smith! I fell in love with you! As it turns out, I'm still in love with you!"

"Am I part alien?!," shrieked Charlotte.

"Apparently," the Doctor muttered, wishing she couldn't hear.

"Isn't it cool?!," asked Jack the younger. "Why do you think I gave you the locket?"

"I thought it was a lucky charm not some weird alien jewelry that would transform me!" She looked at Donna plaintively. "Mum?"

"We'll sort it out," said Donna, completely unsure of what to say.

They pulled onto Lionel Road and found the front door to the house open. They rushed inside to find Wilf being helped by Jackie and...

"Rose!," said Jack the younger.

"Hi," Rose said sheepishly.

"Oh, this just gets better," muttered the Doctor as he shut the door behind Jack the elder.

"What are you doing here?," asked Jack the elder.

"I'll tell you what! Scarecrows! In my flat! That's the fourth time I'll have to get the door replaced thanks to him!," said Jackie, motioning at the Doctor.

"Mum, just save it," said Rose.

"Well, I've never seen a check for damages, but look at him living all high and mighty!"

"Shut up!," Donna screamed at Jackie. She turned to Wilf. "Are you alright, Gramps?"

"She's as rude as him," Jackie muttered.

"Those scarecrows took Zoe. I'm sorry, love," said Wilf.

Donna covered her mouth. The Doctor looked at Greta who had the locket around her neck.

He knelt down next to her and took it off her. He cringed. "She wanted to protect you. Sweet, sweet Zoe."

He held the locket up and looked at Jamie. "Has she opened this?"

"No," said Jamie. "She's too scared."

The Doctor looked at Donna. "She's still human. They don't want her. They just want me."

"And these three! And I'm assuming the other child I happen to be carrying!," said Donna. "So, yeah, I don't feel real safe right now!"

"It'll be fine. Let's just get you all in the TARDIS and I'll go after Zoe."

"Uh, Dad," said Jack as he stared out the front window.

"Not now, Jack!"

"What's going on?," asked Wilf.

"Doctor!," a female voice called. "Doctor!"

The Doctor moved to the window. The TARDIS was parked in the middle of the road, guarded by a woman in running clothes and a teenage girl in Goth mode.

"Well, we found all our missing persons at least," said Jack the elder.

"That's the other two of the family," said the Doctor. "Where's their ship? Is it in the park? They'll have taken Zoe there."

"I'm not letting you go alone," said Jack.

"Neither am I," said Rose.

"Sorry, what the hell is her problem?," asked Donna, pointing at Rose.

"No, you are going to stay here and look after Donna and the children."

Sarah Jane stepped forward. "And what are you going to do about them? If you had to hide from them before, what can you do now?"

The Doctor took a breath. "I was being kind then."

"And what the hell does that mean?," asked Donna.

The Doctor turned back to Donna. "You may be mad at me and you have every right to be, but trust me, I am bringing Zoe back."

* * *

Author's Notes: Yes, I know. I promise there's an update tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Notes: As promised. More at the end. Happy reading! Oh, and I don't own anything.

* * *

Donna had no idea what to make of the sudden turn of events in her life. Her main emotion was concern for Zoe, but she still found the rest of it bloody confusing.

"Okay," said Donna, trying to work her way through the thought process, "he was human when I met him, but now he's not?"

Jack the elder shrugged. "It must have been some sort of biodata transformation matrix."

Donna nodded. "And you travelled with him in time and space? And so did Sarah Jane?"

"Yes," said Sarah Jane, "but he was a different man then."

"What's that mean?"

"We can talk more about that later," said Sarah Jane.

"When he dies, he changes bodies," said Rose.

"What?!"

"Thank you, Rose," Jack muttered as he looked out the window.

"What? I'm the one with the right to be mad!," said Rose. "You were all hiding the Doctor from me, going behind my back!"

Donna turned to Rose. "I'm sorry, did you ever stop and think maybe this isn't about you, you little twit?!"

Rose's jaw dropped. "You've got no right! You're just some woman the Doctor fell in love with when he was human!"

"Rose, shut up," warned Jackie.

"I'm sorry, Mum, but it'll be different now, won't it? The Doctor doesn't do domestic."

"Rose, seriously, stop it," said Jack the elder.

"What does that mean?," asked Charlotte. She looked at her mum. "Is Dad leaving us?"

"The TARDIS wouldn't let him," said Jack the younger. "She likes us."

"She doesn't like Rose," said Jamie.

"I'm not surprised there," said Jackie.

"Mum!"

* * *

Zoe shook in the coldness of the Family's ship. They had dragged her in and left her. The place was so strange. She didn't know how to get out.

The four walked in. They looked like ordinary people, but she knew they weren't.

"The others changed," said the old man, "so can she."

The younger man walked over to her. "Change!"

Zoe shook her head. "I don't know what you mean."

"Change!," demanded Hector.

"Your other spawn mates changed, so can you," said the woman.

Hector took her by the shoulders and shook her. "Change!

Zoe began crying. She wanted her mummy, wanted her daddy, she wanted to go home and hug Greta. She would give anything just to be able to go home again.

"What's it doing?," asked the girl with disgust.

That only made Zoe sob more.

"Oh, that's not nice."

Zoe looked up and saw the Doctor entering the ship. The Family looked at him stunned.

Hector sniffed. "The Time Lord is gone."

"Yeah," said the Doctor, holding up a fob watch. "All in here." He bumped into a control. "Whoops. Sorry. Yeah, changed myself back. Look, I'll give this to you. My life force, all in here. I just want my daughter back."

The Family looked at each other in confusion. The Doctor bumped into another control. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

"He's made himself into an idiot," said the woman in running clothes.

"So, yeah, either eat just me and get nothing," he said, bumping into another control. "Take this and it's all yours. Just give me her."

Hector held his hand out. The Doctor tossed it as the Goth girl shoved Zoe forward. He made a grab for her.

"Daddy!"

"It's alright," he said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Stupid man, did you really think we would let you go?" Hector looked at the others. "Family of mine, now we will have the lives of a Time Lord."

He opened the watch and they waited for...

Nothing. Nothing happened.

They looked at the Doctor in amazement.

"You know, actually, I didn't," said the Doctor, securing Zoe as he held her. "And you know, actually, oh, I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection, little bit like ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. But it has got to be said that I don't like the looks of that hydroconometer. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retrostabilizers feeding back into the primary heat converter. Because if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons. But, in fairness, I will give you one word of advice, run."

The Doctor bolted out with Zoe attached around his neck. He grinned down at her and she smiled back at him.

The blast of the ship propelled them forward, causing them to fall on the ground. The Doctor sat back up.

"Are you alright?," he asked Zoe.

"Yeah."

The Doctor stood and faced the family as they laid on the ground, looking up at him. They were at his mercy. He had had enough of being kind, look where it had gotten him.

"You want to live forever, well, let's see about that, shall we? I bet I can make that happen. Maybe you'd like to be in the event horizon of a collapsing star? Ever seen that? Nothing but darkness and death forever? Or what about you? Unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star, that ought to do, trapped in a dying galaxy, yeah, big fella, that ought to-"

He stopped. Zoe was sobbing behind him. He looked back at her. Such a tiny, fragile little body, curled over herself as she shook from the force of her own tears.

He had frightened her.

He knelt down. "Zoe, Zoe, I'm sorry. Don't cry."

"Are you going to do that?" She looked terrified. She was looking at him as if he was a monster, some creature that had just taken the form of her father.

He didn't want to be that.

He looked back at the Family as they cowered, then back to Zoe.

"No. No. I won't. I'm sorry, please forgive me-"

Zoe screamed, the Doctor looked behind him to see Hector had risen and was opening his mouth. The Doctor threw himself over Zoe and then was surprised to hear the sound of machine gun fire.

Hector fell to the ground.

"That's enough, men!," he heard the Brigadier say. "Forward!"

The Doctor popped his head up. "Brig! Hello!"

"Uncle Ali?," asked Zoe.

"Hello, Zoe," said the Brig. He grimaced. "Hello, Doctor."

The UNIT soldiers began rounding up the other members of the family and cuffing them.

"So," said the Brig, "Doctor, what do we do with them?"

The Doctor looked. "Lock them up. Let them spend the rest of their lives together."

"Very well."

"Donna and the children?"

"Fine."

"The TARDIS?"

"Do you mean yours or the blue box at UNIT?"

The Doctor paused. "I meant mine."

"Fine."

"Daddy," said Zoe.

The Doctor kissed her on the forehead. "I know. Me, too."

* * *

Donna watched through the window, waiting for any sign of the Doctor and Zoe. Greta sat next to her on the window seat. She looked up next to her to see Jackie holding two cups of tea.

"Hope you don't mind," said Jackie, "I put your kettle on."

"No," said Donna, taking the cup. "Thanks."

Jackie shook her head. "Sorry about Rose. My daughter, she doesn't know when to quit sometimes."

"She travelled with him?," asked Donna.

"Yeah, until he left her."

"Left her?," asked Donna.

"Christmas Day. That ship over London, that was him."

Donna shook her head. "That was him?"

"Oh, and remember when Downing Street got hit by a missile? That was him. Well, Mickey did most of it."

Donna took another sip of her tea. Greta barked and she looked out the window to see the Doctor carrying Zoe up the road.

Donna rushed out.

"Mummy!," shouted Zoe.

Donna ran towards her and grabbed her from the Doctor.

"Oh, God," said Donna. "Oh, thank you, God. My baby."

"I was so scared, Mummy."

"Of course you were. My poor little girl. We'll get you a bath and I'll make you hot chocolate and then you are never leaving my sight!"

Donna started inside the house.

"Doctor!," called Rose.

The Doctor sighed and turned. He saw Jack behind her back at the rear of one of the UNIT trucks shaking his head. She ran towards him.

"Aren't you going to say anything to me?," asked Rose.

"What am I meant to say, Rose?"

"You and I... I thought..."

"No," said the Doctor. "That's over. I have another life now and Rose Tyler, you have got to find one of your own."

He walked away.

"That day, you were mad at me about the Daleks," said Rose.

The Doctor stopped and turned.

"I did it for you," said Rose.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "You know what worries me most?"

"No," said Rose.

"That doesn't scare you."

The Doctor turned and walked away.

* * *

Donna had a lot of work to do putting her household to bed this night. She had to see that her grandfather was alright and Sarah Jane took him home. This was followed by a call from Sylvia demanding to know what the hell had happened and why was Wilf saying John was an alien? After she put that discussion off with a series of excuses, Zoe was the biggest concern. She finally set her down with Greta as protection. Then the boys were as wild as they had ever been with Cousin Jack around, not to mention all the fancy UNIT things in their front path. Jack obligingly helped her wrangle them and got them to bed. Then it was finally off to Charlotte who had been sitting up in her room for hours,

"Charlotte?," said Donna. "It's time you went to sleep."

Charlotte shook her head. "What am I?"

Donna frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not human. What am I then?"

"Well," said Donna, sitting on the edge of the bed, "you're Charlotte Elizabeth Smith, you're beautiful, you're clever, you're talented, you're apparently a bit of a singer and you are my daughter. You're loved."

"Dad's standing on the other side of the door," said Charlotte.

The Doctor opened the door sheepishly. "Uh, yes."

"Why can I do that?!," Charlotte shrieked.

"That's enough," said Donna. She kissed her on the forehead. "Go to sleep and we'll sort it all in the morning. I'm sure your dad will be happy to help."

"I will," said the Doctor.

* * *

Donna shut the door on the master bedroom. She walked over and sat down on the bed.

"You are?," she began.

"I'm the Doctor."

She shook her head. "Your mother called you 'The Doctor'?"

"No, I chose it."

"And you're from?"

"Gallifrey."

"I thought you went to school there. You said it was in Ireland."

The Doctor shook his head. "It's definitely not in Ireland."

"Okay..." She sighed. "The children. What about them?"

"I used a device in my ship to transform myself. It's called a Chameleon Arch. I didn't realize that there was a fail safe in case I reproduced. The watches and Charlotte's locket transformed them into Time Lords, at least partially. I'll have to do a closer study to be certain."

"The baby?"

"There was no fail safe on the baby. She is part Time Lord."

"She?"

"Oh, right. I might have done a quick scan with my sonic screwdriver while you weren't looking. I'm sorry. I didn't think Time Lords and Humans were genetically compatible, so I didn't take any precautions-"

"You don't apologize for a baby," said Donna. "At least I know she's alright."

"I am sorry for that. I was going to tell you after the talent show. I didn't want you to worry any more."

"Okay," said Donna. "What do you do now? Do you have to report back in or something? Do I have to meet alien in-laws?"

The Doctor shook his head. "There's no one."

Donna looked up. "What do you mean no one?"

"Uh, they're all gone. There was a war with this race called the Daleks and Gallifrey, well, it burned. It had to, otherwise the whole of creation would have been destroyed."

"Well, there had to be other survivors..."

"No, there's no one. I would know. I would be able to feel it."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

The Doctor looked up. "Oh."

"They said you travel. That's what you do. Will you leave us?"

"Do I have to?"

"This was an accident, right? You can't have wanted this."

"Donna, where do you think I'm going?"

She was silent. The Doctor knelt down in front of her.

"There is nowhere better than here with you and the children. I mean, there are things out there to see, new worlds, new galaxies, but I couldn't enjoy them knowing you were back here. I couldn't do it alone. Not anymore."

"What are you saying?"

"Come with me."

"What? Pack up the kids in your outer space phone box caravan? I don't think so."

"If you tried it-"

"Doctor, I can't. I'm not ready. This is all too much."

"Right," said the Doctor.

"I have to know more. These are my children and I can't just-"

"I know," said the Doctor.

"It doesn't mean never," said Donna.

"And me?," asked the Doctor. "Do you want me to go?"

Donna shook her head. "No."

"You're not angry?," asked the Doctor.

"I understand," said Donna. "You were scared."

"Oh, Donna, you are amazing," said the Doctor.

"Stop it," said Donna.

"I will not."

Donna took a breath. "Just one more thing. About Zoe. I don't want her to open that locket if she doesn't choose it."

"No," said the Doctor. "Not unless she chooses it."

"Also," said Donna, "I'm going to need to hear why you blew up Downing Street."

* * *

The Doctor had parked the TARDIS on the top floor, just outside the eaves storage. The childen and Greta looked at him anxiously as Donna watched.

"Okay, we're going to have a look inside. A look!," he warned. "We're not going anywhere. We're just looking around and doing some scans."

The kids looked forlorn.

"And your Dad is going to show you some things about where he's from," said Donna. She looked up at the Doctor. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes," he said. The Doctor opened the door and the kids rushed in.

"Aren't you coming, Mummy?," asked Zoe.

"No, I've got to go through the eaves storage and look at the baby things."

"We can do that later," said the Doctor.

"You all start. I'll join you in a bit," said Donna.

"Don't be long," said the Doctor.

"Don't take my children to Venus," snorted Donna.

The Doctor smiled as he took Zoe by the hand and walked into the TARDIS.

Donna walked over to the end of the eaves storage. She opened the door up. She had leftovers from four children in there. She did a quick look through the clothes, some of Zoe's things would still be alright for a baby girl and the toys would need to be brought down. They would have to move Jack into the spare bedroom upstairs so the nursery could be on the same floor as their bedroom.

She wasn't really looking for that, though.

She pulled out a cedar box. Inside was the lacy, white family Christening gown, the one she had worn. The one all the babies had worn, well, except Jamie, they had to get a spare. He was too squirmy as a baby for it anyway. There were photos of her in it, Sylvia holding her proudly. Her dad and grandparents looking on.

Then was another thing. The thing Donna had tried to block from memory until she laid Zoe's locket to rest on her night table.

There was a small box with circles on it. She opened it revealing another locket with the same writing.

She shook her head as she took it in her hand.

No. She was Geoffrey and Sylvia Noble's daughter. Donna. She was nothing special.

_"Daughter..._" the locket seemed to whisper. "_It's nearly time._"

Donna shut the locket back in the box and the box back in a bigger box. She wanted to shove it inside concrete and toss it in the ocean.

"Donna!," called the Doctor. "I can help you with that later! I want to show you the garden!"

"Coming!," called Donna.

She walked down to the TARDIS where the Doctor stood in the doorway.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand.

Donna looked around in amazement. It was so big, so organic, so right. She found herself surprised it didn't seem more cold, more alien.

"This is your ship?"

"She's called the TARDIS."

The ship purred.

"She likes you," said the Doctor. "Seems to like the children. Mind you, she has zapped Jamie a few times already, but that's only because he puts his hands everywhere."

Donna ran her fingers along the console. "When you became human, she chose where you went?"

"Yes."

"Did she say why?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. I assumed it was so Sarah Jane could take care of me. I'm glad she chose where she did, though."

"Yeah," smiled Donna, "me too."

"Come on," said the Doctor. "Want to see a Bitizedian violet?"

"You're sure you're alone?," asked Donna.

"No," said the Doctor.

Donna froze in anxious anticipation of what his next words would be.

"I have you all, don't I?"

"Yeah," said Donna. "You do."

He held out his hand and Donna took it as they walked further into the TARDIS.

* * *

Author's Notes: Thank you all for your reads and reviews. I hope you liked it and if you want to review, that would be awesome. I started this story so looking forward to the idea of having a story that started and finished but, I kind of need a sequel now. I don't have the details on that, but I have another story I need to get under control first. Thanks again.

**A/N Update 10/19: **The sequel is entitled "The Most Extraordinary Life" and it's up now.


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